


Just Don't Panic

by Sweetie_Curfy



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: Anxiety, Anxiety Attacks, Breeder!Ryan, Doctor!Jack, Minor Injuries, Mirgraines, Nightmares, Panic Attacks, Photographer!Gavin, Pokemon!AU, Ranger!Michael, Sickness, TW: Blood, Trainer!Geoff, Trainer!Ray
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-02-02
Updated: 2017-03-13
Packaged: 2018-03-10 05:38:15
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 35
Words: 188,297
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3278762
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sweetie_Curfy/pseuds/Sweetie_Curfy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A Trainer with an anxiety disorder, a Photographer who never pays attention, a Breeder questioning his life choices, a Ranger and his Growlithe that rush into things without thinking, a Pokemon Doctor who's only ever left his home town once, and another Trainer with a lot of things that he definitely doesn't want to talk about, all on a journey through the Beacon Region where they'll meet friends and foes on a daily basis and have to sort through who's what.</p><p>What could go wrong?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Cyndaquil Get!

**Author's Note:**

> Not yet complete. Tags will be added as the fic goes on to avoid spoilers.

The Beacon Region is home to many various breeds of Pokemon and people. Anywhere you look, you’ll find them soaring through the sky, climbing through the trees, or gliding through the oceans. The selection is great; it’s quite easy to find many sorts of Pokemon there, from Abomasnow to Zubat. Many people come far and wide to the Beacon Region simply for the Pokemon League, despite the fact that it’s only been around for a few years. Even within the region, you can ask many young men who are traveling, and they’ll say that it’s to become the greatest Pokemon Master, starting right in their home region.

Our story starts with one of these young men, going by the name of Ray Narvaez Jr.

* * *

 

Professor Matt Hullum had not been expecting anyone the day he met the new Trainer. When he heard the knock at the door to his lab, he had just finished up some research for the day and was beginning to clean up. He turned when the tell-tale knocking hit his ears; he quickly answered it in confusion. Standing on the other side of the door was a young man with jet black hair, slightly tan skin, glasses, and a sheepish smile.

“Professor Hullum?” he asked.

The man nodded, although he was still slightly confused. There was something familiar about the face in front of him, but he just couldn’t place where from…

“Yes,” he responded, “Yes, that’s me. And who are you, may I ask?”

The younger man swallowed. “I’m, uh, Ray Narvaez Jr, sir. I was hoping you would allow me to have a Pokemon so I could begin my journey.” He stated this as if he had rehearsed it in his head hundreds of times before arriving.

“Narvaez,” Professor Hullum sighed, “Where have I heard that name before…?”

As the professor thought, Ray looked away, grabbing the hem of his purple and black, sleeveless sweatshirt and starting to twirl it in his fingers. He was about to respond to the question when the older snapped his fingers and smiled.

“That’s right! You must be Adrianna’s boy!” he mused. “Right, right, she married your father, Mr. Ray Narvaez Sr!”

Ray nodded, looking back to the other man. “Yeah, that’s right. How did you…?”

“We went to high school together,” Hullum explained. “She and I e-mail each other every once in a while. I believe she mentioned something about you wishing to start a Pokemon journey…” He slapped his hands together and stepped back. “Please, come in! If you’d like to be a Pokemon Trainer, the first step is claiming a starter Pokemon!”

The younger did as told and walked into the lab. Once he was in, Professor Hullum shut the door and turned, leading him towards the back of the building.

“I suppose you may not know who I am,” he laughed. “In case your mother hasn’t told you, I’m Professor Matt Hullum, although a lot of people here in Dirtbag Town call me the Pokemon Professor. You’re from Nucom Village, correct?”

Ray nodded. “Yeah.”

“So that means you came here via Route 20, I assume,” he continued. “That’s where I go to conduct a lot of my field research. As you probably well know, people do all sorts of things with their Pokemon; some choose to train them to be better fighters, others help them be beautiful for Contests, and some people solely have them as pets! But not me. No, I prefer to study them to learn about how they act and such. I usually am out in the field on Route 20, but you were lucky today; I’ve been just gathering my research and studying for a few hours now. Ah, here we are!”

Professor Hullum stopped in front of a table covered in a white sheet; from where he was standing, Ray could see that there were a few things under the fabric. Before he could even question it, however, the professor was pulling the sheet away, revealing lots of papers, bunches of small, different colored devices, and three PokeBalls.

“These are the starter Pokemon,” he said. “Each one is a little different, so it may be a decision that will take a little while to make. It is a big decision, after all.”

The last few words caused Ray to have to swallow. He watched as Professor Hullum grabbed the first PokeBall and was about to press the button in the middle when he suddenly jumped and turned back.

“Oh! I nearly forgot!”

He grabbed one of the small devices that had been residing on the table and turned back to Ray, holding it out to him. Ray stared at it for a moment before gently taking it, turning it over in his hands a few times as the professor explained.

“This is a PokeDex. When you open it and hold it up to a Pokemon, it’ll record your seeing of it and where you are, then send it back to me so I can know where to find it if I ever need it for research. Your mother asked me to give it to you, in case you forget to call her to tell her where you are.” He pointed as Ray opened it. “It’ll also give you some information on the Pokemon it’s scanning. Some versions of the PokeDex have a function for it to speak to you out loud, but quite honestly I always found that annoying, so I hope you don’t mind.” He shrugged. “I also hope you don’t mind it being red. I would have given you the option for some of those other colors, but at the moment, this one is the only one that works. Now that we’ve got this covered, finally…”

He finally pressed the button to release the Pokemon within the PokeBall. It made a cry of joy and sat down, scratching itself behind the ear with its foot.

“Go on, try the PokeDex on it!” he urged.

Ray nodded and held the still-open device up towards the Pokemon.

“’Bulbasaur, the Seed Pokemon,’” he read. “’Shortly after it hatches, this Pokemon can obtain nourishment from the seed on its back.’”

“Interesting, isn’t it?” Professor Hullum said. “Some say that the seed was planted on its back at birth.” He grabbed the second PokeBall and opened it so the Pokemon landed next to Bulbasaur. Again, Ray held up the PokeDex and read while the Pokemon squeaked and curled up.

“’Cyndaquil, the Fire Mouse Pokemon. The flames on Cyndaquil’s back will burn more brightly if it is startled.’”

He watched as it squeaked again and curled up next to the Bulbasaur. The professor laughed nervously and explained, “This one is a little timid. It might be a little hard for you to train, now that I think about it.” He grabbed the third PokeBall next, pressing the button and letting it land on the floor on the other side of the two. It proudly said its name and stood with its arms at its hips, ignoring what was going on with the other two starter Pokemon.

“’Piplup, the Penguin Pokemon. Piplup can dive in icy northern waters for ten minutes at a time. Seems like a lot of trouble, but Piplup is too proud to accept food from humans.’”

He looked down in time to watch Piplup scurry over to Cyndaquil and grab its paw, trying to pull it away from Bulbasaur. It squeaked and pushed further into the Seed Pokemon, which only doubled Piplup’s efforts. Ray felt his heart twist at the sight, having been in Cyndaquil’s place time after time as he was growing up.

Bulbasaur then growled at Piplup, using its Vine Whip to gently push the Penguin Pokemon away and wrap up Cyndaquil. Ray smiled gently, glad that it was getting what he had never had.

“Alright, Piplup, that’s enough.”

He looked up at the professor, who was currently looking down to scold Piplup at his feet. It sighed and plopped down, crossing its fins across its chest angrily. Professor Hullum sighed and looked up at Ray.

“So? Have you decided which Pokemon you want?”

Taking a glance at the three in turn, Ray nodded. “I think I would like to have Cyndaquil, if that’s okay.”

The professor was taken aback. “Really? You want Cyndaquil? You realize that this will be a challenge to train a Pokemon as timid as this one, don’t you?”

The younger looked at the Fire Mouse Pokemon again, seeing its fallen face in reaction to Professor Hullum’s words. This just confirmed it for him, and he nodded again.

“Yeah. I think I’ll be able to train it well,” he informed. “Like you said, it’s really timid, and, well, I have an anxiety disorder. So I’ll know how to treat it when it’s afraid and when it’s not, so hopefully that’ll be enough for us to like each other so we can get really strong.” He looked at Cyndaquil, who looked back at him. “I mean, I’d like to if it’s okay with Cyndaquil.”

He barely had finished the sentence when it slipped out of Bulbasaur’s grip and nuzzled itself into his leg.

“Well,” Professor Hullum said, “It looks like you’ve got yourself a Pokemon, Ray.” He handed him the PokeBall with a smile and patted him on the shoulder. “I think you’ll do just fine as a Trainer, even though Cyndaquil might be a little tough at first. I wish you good luck on your journey, kiddo.”

Ray smiled and nodded. “Thanks!” He turned to Cyndaquil. “Do you want to stay out with me or go into the PokeBall?”

It pointed to the PokeBall, and Ray quietly returned it. He thanked the professor and started to walk to the door; his hand was on the handle when he heard Professor Hullum say, “Oh!” quickly followed by a, “Ray, wait! I almost forgot!”

The new trainer turned and waited patiently as the older man rushed over to him, holding his hand out to reveal a few smaller PokeBalls.

“Here, so you can catch more Pokemon,” he explained. “Take them as a gift, so you don’t have to spend your money on PokeBalls until you need more.”

Ray smiled and thanked him again before turning, opening the door, and taking his first step on his Pokemon Journey.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Posted in memory of Monty Oum.
> 
> "Keep moving forward."


	2. Protect the Budew!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ray's finally leaving for his journey, and what better way to start it than nearly getting attacked by wild Pokemon right off the bat?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> gahhhh I'm so sorry I forgot to update this yesterday >.

After getting his first Pokémon at Professor Hullum’s laboratory in Dirtbag Town, Ray has begun his journey through the Beacon Region by setting out towards Entity City, where his first gym battle awaits.

Ray stood at the fork in the path just outside of Dirtbag Town with a map in his hands; he’d never been good at reading maps, but he knew that if he was going to get anywhere, he had to figure out how to as soon as possible. He carefully looked at the path he needed to take, and once he determined which way would get him to Entity City the quickest, he turned and started down the path on the left, taking a good look at all of the trees to make sure he would remember he’d been here.

He hadn’t gone more than ten feet before he was startled by a Taillow flying across the path right in front of his face. His yelp was followed by him stumbling backwards, just as another Taillow flew past him on his right. He yelped again and turned to the side so he could back away. A third Taillow flew directly at him, and he was quickly walking backwards until he tripped and slammed into a tree, falling onto the ground with a groan.

Sitting up straight, he rubbed the back of his head and looked at the path, where a few more Taillow were gathering with the first three. He furrowed his eyebrows in curiosity.

“Wonder what’s going on there…?”

He got up and moved to investigate, but one of the Taillow turned and glared at him. He swallowed and stepped backwards before pulling out his PokeDex and scanning the flock.

_Taillow: The Tiny Swallow Pokémon. Taillow will bravely take on the toughest foes, and will always look for warm climates in which to live._

“So, then, what’re they all doing here?” he mumbled. He trailed along the edge of his declared safe-zone until he determined that he couldn’t see what they were swarming around. Once he realized they were attacking whatever it was, he looked around to find a tree he could safely climb and crawled up to a decently high branch. He gasped quietly once he realized what it was.

In the middle of the swarm of Taillow, a small Budew was curled up in a ball, protecting itself from the Wing Attacks and Pecks coming at it from all directions. Ray chewed on his lip; it took him a moment before he decided that he wanted to help, and once he did, he reached for Cyndaquil’s PokeBall at his side. He’d just gotten it in his hand when the Budew squealed and let out a powder from its bud, which settled over the Tiny Swallow Pokémon and immediately set them all to sleep.

Ray was in such shock over this that he didn’t realize just how thin the branch was until it snapped and he fell.

When he hit the ground, he made sure to keep the groan quiet so he didn’t startle the Budew. He looked up and quickly saw that it was already startled by him, as its eyes were wide and it was shaking. He got onto his knees and gave it a soft smile.

“Hey, it’s okay,” he whispered, “I’m not going to hurt you.”

He crawled over a little to try and coax it, but it screamed and ran off into the bushes.

“Wait, no!” He sighed once he saw that it was gone. Quietly, he got up off of the ground and looked at the bush where it had disappeared.

“I just wanted to see if it was okay…”

With a sigh, he continued down the path, not seeing the little Budew peeking out from the bush before sneaking after him.

He’d been walking for a while and was way out of sight from the sleeping Taillow before he realized something was following him. He stopped and turned, seeing the Budew from before just as it squeaked and jumped back into the bushes. With a confused look, he slipped over and pulled apart the bushes, seeing it staring back at him with wide eyes.

“Uh… Hello?”

It seemed to relax a bit before replying, “Dew.”

Ray sunk to his knees as the Budew climbed out of the shrubbery. “What… What are you doing? Here, I mean. Er, well, I guess I should be asking what happened before, with all of those Taillow…”

The Budew just stared at him, and it took it saying “Bud.” for Ray to realize that since it was a Pokémon, it couldn’t exactly answer any open ended questions.

“Oh! Right. Uh…” He paused to think of a question it could respond to. “Are you okay?”

It nodded and smiled at him, jumping up and down a couple of times to prove it was true. He laughed quietly and grinned at it.

“That’s great! I’m glad you’re okay.” It smiled back and climbed onto his knees, snuggling itself into his stomach and sighing. Ray held up his arms in surprise before gently placing his hand on its back.

_I think I’m going to like being a trainer,_ he thought.

All of a sudden, the squawking of a Taillow rang through their ears, causing the two to jump and pull apart. Ray stood, looking up at the quickly returning flock of Tiny Swellow Pokémon and cringing. He reached for Cyndaquil again, but Budew jumped in front of him and growled. The trainer, figuring he knew where this was going, frowned and stepped back.

One of the Taillow swooped in using Arial Ace, snagging Budew in its side and knocking it to the ground. Quickly, it got back to its feet, just in time for another one to use Quick Attack. It struggled to stand, and when it was halfway up, it was knocked back down by a Wing Attack. Ray watched in horror as the Taillow quickly started ganging up on it like before.

He couldn’t watch any longer.

“Cyndaquil,” he called out as he grabbed the PokeBall, “You’re up!”

It let out a battle cry as it was released. Quickly, it went to its battle stance and waited for instruction.

“Use Tackle!”

The Fire Mouse Pokémon charged at the flock, knocking into three of the Taillow and getting them away from Budew. The others glanced at it, but quickly went back to attacking the smaller Pokémon.

Ray held out his hand. “Now use Ember, but be sure not to hit Budew with it, alright?”

Cyndaquil nodded and spit out tiny flames at the remaining Taillow, arching them when they were getting close to Budew. This knocked most of the Taillow out and to the ground, but one remained, growling and launching itself at Cyndaquil with an Ariel Ace. Ray was quick to prevent this.

“Quick, dodge it!” he yelled.

Cyndaquil leaped to the right to get out of the way; the Taillow turned and started flying back at the Fire Mouse Pokémon.

“It’s coming behind you!”

It jumped in the air, using the head of Taillow to gain some more height. Ray saw what it was doing and smiled at his Pokémon’s intelligence.

“Ember!”

Quickly, Cyndaquil spat flames at the last Taillow, finally knocking it out, and it landed next to the rest of the fainted flock. Ray ran over to the other two and kneeled down.

“Cyndaquil, you did great,” he mused. It smiled and hummed in joy as he rubbed its head.

As soon as he stopped, he turned his focus to Budew, helping it sit up. “Are you alright?”

It nodded and tried to stand, but it began to sway dangerously as soon as it was up. Ray caught it as it was falling and frowned.

“That can’t be good…”

Quickly, he lifted it into his arms and stood, returning Cyndaquil into its PokeBall before running down the path.

“If I’m right, I saw that there’s a Pokémon Center around here somewhere,” he said to Budew. “I’m going to take you there, if that’s okay with you.”

It gave a weak nod and curled closer into him; he let out a sigh.

“You’ll be okay. Don’t worry.”

He started questioning his own words when he was sure he was at the right place, but there was no Pokémon Center in sight.

He looked around in confusion, thinking back to make sure the map was up to date about things like this. Chewing on his lip, he looked at the ground.

“But… It should be here! The map… I just bought it the day before I left!” He swallowed. “This can’t be right! I can’t be lost already!”

He felt Budew shiver in his arms, and he bit his lip harder. Panic began to set in as he kneeled down and took a deep breath.

“Okay… Okay. I-I’ll fix this. This is my fault anyways. There’s gotta be something I can do for you.”

He gently lay it on the ground before pulling off his red, single strap backpack and unzipping it, digging through the contents until he found what he’d been looking for.

“Here! A Potion!” He held it up before looking at Budew. “Do you think this will help you…?”

It nodded, very clearly in pain; Ray wasted no time in helping it sit and gently spraying it with the medicine. He flinched when it cringed at the sting, but smiled when he saw the wounds beginning to heal.

“Thank Mew…” he sighed. It smiled at him and leaned against his knee. “See? You’re okay. You don’t have to worry.”

It hummed and climbed into his lap, curling up against his stomach. Ray was gentle with placing his hand on its back.

They stayed like this for a few minutes until Budew suddenly crawled off of his lap and ran over to his bag. Ray watched curiously as it dug through, sticking its face in and pulling it out with one of the small PokeBalls in its mouth. Ray’s eyebrows rose.

“Y-You want me to capture you?”

It set the ball down and nodded vigorously. After a moment of consideration, Ray smiled and nodded.

“Okay, yeah, sure!”

He grabbed the capture device and enlarged it before tapping it on Budew’s forehead. The PokeBall opened and enveloped Budew in a red light as it dissolved and sucked back in. Ray felt it twitch once, twice, three times in his hand before it made a _ding_ sound and fell still.

He couldn’t stop the grin from forming on his face. “I just caught a Budew,” he whispered to himself, the pride being unable to contain itself.

Ray stood, rezipped his bag, and had almost placed Budew’s PokeBall on his belt next to Cyndaquil’s when he suddenly remembered.

“Oh!”

He let Budew back out and pulled out his PokeDex. When Budew gave him a strange look, he laughed nervously and explained.

“This is to tell Professor Hullum that you and other Budew are around here, so if he ever needs to research, he can come here.”

Quickly, he scanned Budew and looked at the information the PokeDex gave.

_Budew: The Bud Pokémon. The pollen that is released from Budew’s bud can cause runny noses and sneezing.  
Owned by: Ray Narvaez Jr. _

“Huh, so it says who owns it too, then,” Ray mumbled. He looked at Budew, figuring that it would want to stay out with him for a little longer, and picked it up, heading down the path to where their journey continues.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here's chapter two! Hope you enjoyed!
> 
> All PokeDex entries come from this book: http://www.amazon.com/Pokemon-Essential-Handbook-Scholastic/dp/0545427711
> 
> Any artwork of mine will be posted here: sweetiecurfyart.tumblr.com  
> (I'll try to get a Beacon Region map up at some point for you guys to be able to reference it ^^; )


	3. Swim for Pictures! Enter Gavin!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pokemon Photographer Gavin Free makes a mistake that leads to his first meeting with Ray.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beacon Region Map: http://sweetiecurfyart.tumblr.com/post/111232399174/here-it-is-a-map-of-the-beacon-region-used

The sound of high currents was extremely loud due to the various rocks strewn throughout the river. The water crashing against the minerals caused a gentle mist to raise around the area, making a rainbow an everyday sight for those who came often. Staryu and Starmie could often be found leaping out of the water and through the light spectacles at great speeds. Getting a photo of this is often known as a sign of extreme skill for photographers.

This was what Pokémon Photographer Gavin Free was after.

The young man had a hold of a tree branch in one hand and his camera in the other, which was strapped to his wrist; he was leaning way over the edge of the river, trying to catch one of the Pokémon on film with one hand.

A Staryu leaped out of the water suddenly, catching the man off guard, but still, he snapped a photo. Sure this was the one, he grinned and looked at the photo on the screen. The lighting was perfect, the rainbow looked spectacular, but unfortunately, there was no Staryu to be seen.

“Dammit,” he sighed. “I was sure that’d be it!” After a little whine, he went back into position, preparing himself even more this time for the next shot.  
After a moment, another Pokémon shot out, this time a Starmie. The second he saw it, Gavin snapped the shot without even bothering to look at how the shot would be. When he looked again, he screamed in joy; the Starmie was directly where he’d imagined it to be.

However, due to the sudden excitement, the ground beneath him crumbled away from his foot. He yelped as he started to fall in, gripping tightly to the branch until it snapped into his hands.

“Bollocks!”

The current swept him up in a heartbeat, and before he even had the chance to attempt to get out, he was slammed into a rock and knocked unconscious.

 

* * *

 

 

Because the sun was beating down that day, Ray had decided to take a break when he came across the river. He let out Cyndaquil and Budew, allowing the two to play in the shallower part of the water, and took off his shoes and socks before sticking his feet in. Keeping an eye on the two, and making sure Cyndaquil didn’t get too wet, he found that he was actually relaxing a little- a rare occurrence for the young Trainer.

He was absolutely marveling at how easily Cyndaquil got along with Budew; initially, he’d been worried that because Cyndaquil was so timid, they’d never get along, but, no pun intended, it warmed up to the Bud Pokémon as soon as they met. Even now, watching the two splash each other, Ray would have never known it was shy had it not been for their first encounter.

Honestly, he was a little upset with himself, even, that he couldn’t become friends with people as fast.

 _Well_ , he thought, _that’s life with anxiety, I suppose. People are just as intimidating as a high-leveled Tyranitar is to a just-hatched Pidgey_.

He was pulled from his thoughts by Budew frantically pulling on his tan shorts. When he saw the panicked look on its face, he immediately looked for Cyndaquil, sighing in relief when he saw that it was safe on the river bank. He then looked at where Budew was pointing, gasping when he saw a boy with straw-colored, messy hair floating down the river, seemingly unconscious.

Ray didn’t even think before he ripped off his sleeveless sweatshirt and dove into the water.

He swam over to the boy and grabbed him quickly; his glasses nearly fell off, but he grabbed them before they could float away. With those in hand, he returned to the bank, about twenty feet where they’d been splashing in the water, and pulled the unconscious one on shore before climbing on himself.

Cyndaquil and Budew were quick to run over as the Trainer pulled the other’s bag off of his back and the camera off of his wrist. All the feelings of relaxation had disappeared by now; he was almost in full panic mode at this point.

“Okay… Okay. Uh,” he stuttered, “Let’s, uh…”

He leaned down and checked to see if the boy was still alive; when he felt the breath against his ear, he sighed in relief and looked around. He saw a couple of sturdy branches, so he took the backpack and the camera and hung them up. He considered taking everything out of the bag, but decided against it so it didn’t seem like he was snooping. He then went and got his stuff from where they’d been before, putting the sleeveless sweatshirt over his now soaked navy blue tee shirt and pulling a towel out from his bag. He set the towel next to the boy and returned his Pokémon into their PokeBalls before setting himself down next to the towel, waiting for the boy to wake.

 

* * *

 

 

It wasn’t uncommon for Gavin to be unconscious. There were many times when it happened when he was growing up; he and his friend Dan would be climbing in trees and he’d fallen out, he’d have succumbed to some poisonous substance Dan had accidentally given him, they’d be playing with their parents’ Pokémon and a move would go astray and hit Gavin… Most times, it was due to Dan or his ideas. This time, he figured it was no different.

When he woke up without remembering falling asleep, he knew something must have gone awry somewhere. That’s why before he even opened his eyes, he knew to groan- that had always been a pet peeve of Dan’s, when Gavin would wake and not let him know. But when he opened his eyes and came face to face with a stranger, he could not have been more thrown off. He furrowed his eyebrows and squinted a bit at the harsh sunlight.

“What the hell…?”

He sat up quickly, wincing at the sudden rush of pain that attacked his head with great velocity. With a groan, he put his hand to where it hurt the worst- it was the back of his head, so he knew it couldn’t have been another migraine that put him under. That had been a common thing, as well.

Shaking himself out of the thought, he looked at the person sat next to him; before he could utter a word, the dark haired had offered him a towel.

“I-I saw that you were unconscious in the river,” he explained quietly. “Well, actually, it was my Pokémon that saw. But I got you out, if that’s okay with you…”

Gavin’s confusion turned from the passing out to the boy. Why was he so nervous?

“What do you mean, if that’s okay with me? You probably saved my bloody life!” he laughed. “I should be thanking you for that, mate!” He graciously took the towel and began to dry himself off. “What’s your name?”

The boy smiled a little. “I-I’m Ray,” he said, “And I’m a Pokémon Trainer. What about you?”

“Gavin,” he replied, “Gavin Free, and I’m a Pokémon Photographer.”

He suddenly realized that his camera was gone, not to mention his bag in general. He gasped and dropped the towel, getting onto his knees to look for it.

“My camera! Where’s my bloody camera?! All of my photos are on it!”

Ray quickly got up, and Gavin watched as he ran over to a tree branch, taking it off and running back over.

“I put it over here since it was soaked,” he explained. “I figured you’d want it to be dry. Sorry.”

“Oh, thank Arceus!” Gavin cheered as he took it from the other’s hands. “I thought it was gone! Thank you so bloody much, Ray!”

He gave a timid smile as his reply. Gavin smiled back and started to get up, but a wave of dizziness nearly knocked him over again; if it hadn’t have been for Ray, he would have been back on the ground.

“Holy hell…”

“Are you okay…?”

The photographer took a deep breath and shut his eyes, trying to block the sudden wave of pain in the back of his skull. “Yeah, just my bloody head. I must have hit it off of something… Oh!”

“What?”

He opened his eyes and stared at the ground. “I just remembered what happened, is all. I was trying to get a picture of a Starmie when I fell into the river, and I hit my head off of a rock.”

When he looked back at Ray, he saw a strange beam of hope in his eyes. He cocked his head to the side in confusion.

“What’ve you got that look for?”

“D-Did you, by chance, get the picture of the Starmie?” Ray asked. With a raised eyebrow, Gavin nodded.

“I did… Why?”

“Uh, well, if it’s okay with you, whenever you can or you’d want, could I maybe see it? I mean, y-you don’t have to, I was just…” He ended his ramble by trailing off, trying to think of the right words.

Gavin laughed a little and sat down, patting the spot next to him and turning the camera on. “Of course! You don’t have to be so shy about it, just ask! I love showing off my pictures!”

He couldn’t help but feel his heart swell up at the way Ray’s face lit up and how quickly he joined him.

“See, look,” he said, holding the camera in a way they could both see it. The latest picture he’d taken was on the screen. “That’s the photo I took that sent me down the river. It’s a good thing I brought my water proof camera, yeah?”

Ray smiled and nodded before looking back at the camera; his eyes still had that shine in them. “That’s a really great picture,” he said quietly.

“Thanks! I spent a bloody long time trying to get it. You should see how many pictures I’ve got that are exactly like that, but without the Starmie. I’ve got almost a million of ‘em!”

“Wow,” Ray said, unsure of what else to say. He swallowed and looked at Gavin. “Is your head okay?”

He winced a little and reached up to touch the tender area on the back of his head. “Yeah, I think. S’just a little sore is all.”

Figuring that the conversation about the photos was finished, he lifted his blue polo a little bit, revealing a small, yellow bag attached to his belt. He opened it and placed the camera inside before snapping it back up and turning back to Ray.

“So, where’re you headed?”

The Trainer turned his gaze back to the Photographer. “I’m on my way to Entity City,” he explained with a smile. “That’s where I’m going to get my first badge.”

Gavin raised an eyebrow. “Why’re you coming this way to get to Entity? Did you want to stop in Salubrity Town or something?”

“What? What do you mean by ‘this way’? Aren’t we on Route 19?”

“I’m afraid not, mate,” the straw haired said. “This river doesn’t even come close to Route 19. We’re either on Route 17, 16, 15, or 14. Not 19.”

Ray felt his heart drop. “So… That means…”

_He carefully looked at the path he needed to take, and once he determined which way would get him to Entity City the quickest, he turned and started down the path on the left, taking a good look at all of the trees to make sure he would remember he’d been here._

He put his hands in his hair and doubled over. “I went the wrong way!” He squeaked.

Gavin put a hand on his back. “Hey, it’s a good thing, though! If you hadn’t have gone down this Route, I’d still be in the damn river!”

Ray sat up and took a deep breath. “I guess that’s true…”

“Right!”

The dark haired turned to watch Gavin stand and place his hands on his hips, looking down at the one who was watching.

“What are you…?”

“Ray, I’ve decided that I like you!”

“Okay?”

“And I’ve been wanting to travel for a long time…”

“Where are you going with this?”

“Therefore, if it’s alright with you, I’ve decided that I want to travel with you!”

Ray’s eyebrows rose. “You- What?”

Gavin crouched down in front of him. “You know, travel! You and I can both walk down the winding road, and I could help you with your training and stuff while you help me get good pictures! Does that sound alright with you?”

Ray hadn’t even noticed that he had the hem of his shirt between his fingers until he glanced down; his lip was between his teeth, and his heartbeat had quickened just in the slightest. He was about to decline when he thought back to how well Cyndaquil and Budew had gotten along, and how quickly, and before he knew what he was doing, he was nodding to Gavin with a smile. The other grinned wider than he thought possible and jumped up, throwing his fist in the air.

“Alright! Thanks, Ray!” He pointed his finger at the trainer. “I promise I won’t let you down!”

With a suddenly developed nervous smile, Ray replied, “Okay, thanks.”

The next thing he knew, Gavin had pulled out two PokeBalls and ushered Ray to stand. “Well, come on then, our Pokémon should meet, shouldn’t they?”  
Ray nodded and pulled his two PokeBalls out. “Right, of course.”

They both opened up the PokeBalls at the same time, releasing their two Pokémon each so the other could see it. Ray was quick to pull out his PokeDex and read the entries for Gavin’s two Pokémon.

_Togepi, the Spike Ball Pokémon. Where does Togepi’s limitless joy come from? The secret is said to be contained in its hard shell._   
_Owned by: Gavin Free_

_Umbreon, the Moonlight Pokémon. Umbreon evolved when moonlight changed Eevee’s genetic structure._   
_Owned by: Gavin Free_

“What is _that_?” Gavin asked, curiosity keeping his voice quiet. Ray looked up and laughed nervously.

“It’s called a PokeDex,” he explained. “It tells you a bit of information about the Pokémon and who owns it, and it tells Professor Hullum where I am so he can find the Pokémon I scanned.”

“You know Professor Hullum?!”

“I, uh, I’ve met him…”

Gavin’s eyes went wide with shock. “Holy crap! That’s top! You’re so damn lucky!”

Ray rubbed the back of his neck nervously. “Heh… I guess, yeah.”

The photographer grinned at him before rushing to grab his Creeper pattern bag. Once he had that on, he picked up Ray’s bag, linked his arm around the Trainer’s, and started running off towards the path, leaving the Pokémon to rush after them.

“Come on! Let’s get started! We’ve got a long way to go if you want to get to Entity!”

Ray laughed a little, already feeling a bond forming between the two that he knew would last as the journey continues.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the read!
> 
> Again, Pokedex entries come from this book: http://www.amazon.com/Pokemon-Essential-Handbook-Scholastic/dp/0545427711
> 
> And any artwork will be posted here: sweetiecurfyart.tumblr.com


	4. Team Freelancer! Helping or Hurting?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With a new friend at his side, Ray, along with Gavin, stumble across something they probably shouldn't have.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter's TWs: Blood

After joining Pokémon Photographer Gavin Free, Ray and his Pokémon have continued their journey to Entity City and Ray’s first gym badge.

“So Ray,” Gavin said.

“Yeah, Gav?”

“You’ve only been a trainer for a couple of days, right?”

Ray nodded. “Yeah, I just got Cyndaquil three days ago,” he pointed out. “Why?”

Gavin looked up at the sky. “I was just wondering what made you decide to become a Pokémon Trainer in the first place.”

“Oh.” The dark haired looked at the ground. “Well… A lot of it is because I liked watching battles when I was growing up. My mom used to be a really great Pokémon Trainer, and she liked to take me to see Pokémon Tournaments and stuff, so that just kinda set everything up, I guess.”

“But that’s what inspired you,” Gavin laughed. “What pushed you into doing it?”

Ray fell silent. He didn’t really know the answer himself, to be honest. He shrugged and looked away from the photographer, hoping for the conversation to end soon.

“Did I seriously upset you from that?” Gavin suddenly asked.

Ray’s head shot up as he sent the other a confused look. “No, not at all. Did I seem upset?”

“A little, yeah.”

“Oh… Well, sorry,” he mumbled. “I didn’t mean to come off that way, honest.”

“Ah, it’s alright,” Gavin replied. “Don’t freak out about it. You’re alright.”

He sent a soft smile to the slightly younger, which Ray timidly sent back.

A cry of attack was suddenly heard from deeper into the forest; while Ray flinched, Gavin snapped his head toward the sound. They gave each other a confused look before running towards the area.

 

* * *

 

 

“Luca, use Swords Dance!”

Gavin and Ray ran into the clearing just in time to watch the white Pokémon be surrounded by pale, transparent swords. There were four other people than the Trainer and the Photographer; two were on the battle field, and two were on the sidelines. One of the people battling had long, red hair and was wearing a red t-shirt with a black skirt. The other was wearing a black and white jacket with white jeans, just as one of the two on the sidelines was wearing. The second person on the sidelines was wearing a pair of green pants and a yellow, mid-sleeved shirt. He was closest, so Ray and Gavin quickly stepped over to him.

“Hey, what’s going on here?” Gavin asked.

The boy glanced at him and ran a hand through his blonde hair. “Those two over there, in the black and white? They’re fucking insane!”

Ray cocked his head to the side a bit. “Wait, how?”

“They came up to us when she and I were battling each other- it was a friendly battle, you know? One of those kinds you have with your friends to help each other train. Anyway, they came up to us and started spewing about how we were abusing our Pokémon!” He threw his hands in the air and deepened his voice. “’This is wrong! You should only use your Pokémon for self-defense! Blah blah blah!’ and then they just attacked her Absol for no reason!”

Gavin glared at the boy. “Well, what the bloody hell were you doing with your Pokémon to make them think you were abusing them?”

“Oh, don’t you start that shit, kid,” he huffed. “I’ve dealt with it enough already. We weren’t doing shit with them. It was just a casual battle.”

Ray tore his attention away from the argument between Gavin and the stranger to face the battle. The Absol was attacking the opponent’s Golbat with great speed and power. He pulled out his PokeDex and did a quick scan of the two.

_Absol: the Disaster Pokémon. When you see Absol, it means that disaster in imminent- so don’t stay put! Absol only appears to those it wants to warn._   
_Owned by: Allison Capp_

_Golbat: the Bat Pokémon. Searching for prey at night, Golbat seeks out the blood of both humans and Pokémon._   
_Owned by: Chris Demarais_

“Golbat, Confuse Ray!”

It opened its mouth and let out a series of pulses, engulfing the Absol in them until it collapsed to the ground.

“Luca, no!”

“Now, Poison Fang!”

The Golbat swooped down next to the Absol, and before it had even had the chance to get up, the Bat Pokémon had sunk its fangs into it. By the time it flew away, Absol had passed out and was unconscious on the ground.

“Luca!”

Allison ran to her Absol, kneeling down and lifting it into her arms carefully. Ray heard Gavin gasp before he took off towards the two.

“Golbat, use Wing Attack!” Chris shouted, pointing towards Allison.

“No bloody way!” Gavin yelled back, whipping out one of his PokeBalls. “Midnight, go and use Quick Attack!”

As soon as it popped out of the PokeBall, Gavin’s Umbreon was gone in a flash, reappearing next to the Golbat and knocking it to the side. Chris’s fierce demeanor dissolved into a nervous one when he saw Gavin standing protectively in front of the girl.

“U-Uh… Kathleen!”

The woman on the sidelines put her face in her hands. “Oh, fucking Arceus, why’d I get paired up with this kid…”

Gavin turned his head to look at Allison. “Hey! Your Pokémon looks hurt, am I right?”

She nodded. “I-I think it was poisoned…”

“Then take your friend and go! My friend and I can hold these guys off while you run,” he informed.

She nodded again and returned Absol into its PokeBall. “Thank you so much,” she stated. “Leo! Come on! Let’s go!”

“Right behind you!”

With that, the two trainers ran off, leaving Ray and Gavin with the two clad in black and white.

Chris turned his gaze over to the one on the sidelines. “Kathleen, what do I do?!”

“What the hell do you think you do, dumbass? You fight him! You know what the boss says- keep moving forward!”

“Okay… Alright…” He stood up straight again and held out his hand. “Golbat, go in with a Wing Attack!”

“Dodge it, Midnight!”

Golbat’s Wing Attack was at a great speed, but the Umbreon timed its jump just perfectly enough to miss it and leap over.

“While you’re in the air, use Shadow Ball!”

A dark orb formed in front of Midnight’s mouth and shot at the Golbat; unfortunately, it didn’t have to be told to dodge, and it flew out of the way just in time.

“Leech Life!”

“Block it with another Shadow Ball!”

Golbat was just about to bite Midnight for the attack when it was hit with its Shadow Ball, knocking it out of the field and into the tree with a poof of smoke.

“Golbat!”

When the smoke cleared, it was easy to see that the Bat Pokémon was down for the fight. Chris quickly made his way over and returned it into its PokeBall before turning to Kathleen.

“It’s your turn, I guess,” he stated.

She sighed and ran to the spot her colleague had been in seconds ago.

“Go, Marowak!”

The Marowak let out a long, loud cry of battle the second it was out of its PokeBall. Gavin swallowed nervously at the sight while Ray pulled out his PokeDex.

_Marowak: the Bone Keeper Pokémon. Marowak uses bones both as weapons and to tap out signals on boulders._   
_Owned by: Kathleen Zuelch_

“Bonemerang.”

Without any hesitation, it chucked the bone in its hand across the battle field, hitting Midnight directly in the forehead and flying off. Gavin winced and was about to call out another attack when the bone came soaring back and hit it in the back of the head with enough force to knock it over before landing perfectly in Marowak’s paws.

“Midnight, get up!”

The Umbreon weakly and slowly clambered itself back onto its four paws; once it made its way up, Gavin held out his hand.

“Use Quick Attack!”

As fast as it could, Midnight dashed towards Marowak; it stepped to the side so that it ran past. As Midnight turned and started dashing again, Kathleen called out an attack.

“Bone Club!”

With one swing, Marowak had sent the Moonlight Pokémon out of the field and directly into Gavin’s chest, knocking them both to the ground with a loud thud. When the Photographer looked, he saw that Midnight had fallen unconscious. He growled and sat up to glare at the two in black and white.

“Who the hell are you people, anyway?” he yelled. “Claiming people are abusing their Pokémon when they’re not… That’s ridiculous! Pokémon abuse is nothing to laugh about!”

“Well, obviously not,” Kathleen hissed from the other side of the field. “That’s why we’re doing this. We’re trying to help the Pokémon out.”

“We’re part of something called Team Freelancer,” Chris said as he walked up to stand next to Kathleen. “We take Pokémon from their abusing trainers and sell them to people who will treat them fairly.”

Ray raised an eyebrow. “You sell them? Isn’t that mistreating the Pokémon, too?”

Chris laughed nervously and scratched the back of his neck. “Well… When you put it that way…”

He was cut off by a slap from Kathleen. “Don’t act like that!” she snapped. “You never listen to people like them! Fucking Mew, are you ever going to learn anything?!”

Gavin lay Midnight to the side and stood. “He’s on your damn team! Don’t treat him like that!”

“Mew, you’re gonna do that too?!” She pointed at Ray. “You! Let’s battle!”

“Wh- Me?!”

“I just said that! What are you, deaf? Get over there and sent out your Pokémon!”

He sent Gavin a horrified look before doing as instructed, sending out Cyndaquil wordlessly. It took one look at Marowak and immediately squealed and curled up. Kathleen laughed so hard that she nearly had to double over.

“ _That’s_ what you’re going to be battling with? Are you fucking serious?”

Ray shrunk into himself a bit. “I…”

“Mew, you’ve got to be the most pathetic trainer I’ve met yet!” she howled. “I’ll pity you, kid. Use Bone Rush!”

Marowak began to run towards Cyndaquil, holding its bone out in front.

“Cyndaquil, dodge!” Ray hollered. When it didn’t move, he swallowed. “Dodge it!” he said a bit louder. Before he could say it again, the Bone Keeper Pokémon jabbed the bone into Cyndaquil’s stomach and sent it flying backwards.

“Ray, be careful with what you’re doing to Cyndaquil!” Gavin called out.

Ray gave him a nod and turned back to wait for the Fire Mouse Pokémon to get back up.

“Try to hit it with an Ember!”

“Endure it!”

Both Gavin and Ray’s eyes shot wide open. “What the hell is she doing?!” Gavin yelled.

Cyndaquil got up on its hind legs to fire the small flames at the opponent; it placed its legs shoulder width apart and put its arms in an X shape across its face as it hit. Once the attack ended, they flew to its side.

“Marowak,” Kathleen yelled, “finish this novice up with Bone Club!”

“Shit! Cyndaquil!”

Before Ray even had a chance to move, Marowak had shot to Cyndaquil’s side and hit it; by the time it rolled to Ray’s feet, it was long unconscious.

“Cyndaquil!”

“Marowak, return!”

The Marowak was soon gone, and Ray fell to his knees to check his Pokémon over for any long lasting injuries. He sighed in relief when he saw that there were none.

“Sableye, go!”

The Trainer froze. If she was taking out a Pokémon, that could only mean…

“Use Scratch on the kid.”

His head snapped up, and he snatched Cyndaquil into his arms and turned, feeling the Ghost Pokémon’s claws rip into his upper arm. He let out a scream before he felt a pair of arms pulling him up and away.

“We have to get out of here!”

Gavin. Gavin was saving him.

Ray didn’t know how long they ran for. Somewhere along the way, he realized that Midnight had gone back into its PokeBall. His mind was racing so fast that he hadn’t noticed it back in the clearing.

Eventually, they slowed to a stop, and as they leaned against trees to catch their breath, Gavin looked at Ray.

“Your arm… It’s bleeding really badly,” he mumbled.

Ray glanced down and saw it; the red liquid was streaking down his forearm and dripping onto the ground, now that they’d stopped. He swallowed and nodded.

“I don’t- I don’t know what to do about it,” he admitted, voice shaking.

Gavin pressed his lips together. “I’ll be honest, I don’t either,” he said, “but I can damn well try to help until we can get you to a Pokémon Center or something. Sit down, okay?”

Ray did as told, taking a moment to put Cyndaquil back in its PokeBall. When he was on the ground, Gavin kneeled and pulled off his Creeper backpack. He pulled out a roll of bandages and gently lifted Ray’s arm. He paused.

“Should I put medicine on this first?” he suddenly whispered to himself.

“Probably should,” Ray said quietly. “You know, so it doesn’t get infected and all…”

Gavin nodded, then set down the bandages and rummaged through his bag until he found a Potion. “I read somewhere that these work as disinfectants of people, as well,” he stated. “I guess this is gonna sting, since it hurts the Pokémon. Brace yourself.”

Ray bit his lip in preparation, but a small yelp still managed to slip through at the sudden, intense burning that came with the spray. Gavin winced in sympathy and frowned.

“You alright?” The Trainer nodded and shut his eyes, trying to will the pain away. He felt the Photographer gently starting to wrap the bandages around the wound, which put just enough pressure on it to increase the pain by a lot. By the time Gavin had finished, Ray had accidentally whimpered four times and tasted blood from biting his lip too hard.

“Got it,” Gavin softly said once he was done. “I guess you should try not to move it too much, then. That’s what the doctors always say, isn’t it?”

Ray laughed and wiped the blood off of his lip. “Yeah, I think so. Thanks, Gavin.”

He gave him a soft smile before standing and pulling the slightly younger up with him, using the uninjured arm to do so. “Well… we better get going then,” he pointed out, putting his backpack back on. “I think finding a Pokémon Center or something would be beneficiary, right? We should probably find one quickly, if we can.”

Ray nodded and took a deep breath. “Yeah. Let’s go… I mean, if that’s okay with you.”

Gavin gave him a look that was a mix between confusion and humor. “Of course it’s okay with me, you dope. I was the one who suggested it!”

The Trainer laughed nervously and rubbed the back of his neck. “Right, I guess that’s true, isn’t it?”

With a laugh, the Photographer gently linked arms with Ray and started down the path. “Come on, the sooner the better! Let’s get going!” On that note, the two were on their way, allowing their journey to continue.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the read!
> 
> PokeDex Entries from here: http://www.amazon.com/Pokemon-Essential-Handbook-Scholastic/dp/0545427711  
> Beacon Region Map: http://sweetiecurfyart.tumblr.com/post/111232399174/here-it-is-a-map-of-the-beacon-region-used  
> Any of my artwork will be posted here: http://sweetiecurfyart.tumblr.com


	5. Fire and Logs! Enter Ryan!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While trying to light a fire one night, Gavin and Ray meet a man who might turn out to be a lot more crucial to their journey than they'd thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beacon Region Map: http://sweetiecurfyart.tumblr.com/post/111232399174/here-it-is-a-map-of-the-beacon-region-used#notes  
> Art: sweetiecurfyart.tumblr.com

The sun was setting slowly that evening, casting a nice orange glow in the sky. It let off more than enough light to see, although the temperature was starting to drop, leaving just enough time to get a fire going. Pokémon Breeder Ryan Haywood knew this, of course, but he was taking his time to find some place to set up camp; he was enjoying his time singing softly to himself as he walked.

“…You just keep on keepin’ on that road you choose; don’t you give up walking cuz’ you gave up shoes, no; ease on down, ease on down the road…”

He suddenly stopped, thinking that he heard something. Quietly, he looked in the direction that it had come from. He listened intently until he heard it again, and from there, he softly started to walk towards it.

“I know! Why don’t we try this!”

“Gavin, that’s gonna get us killed.”

“Well then, you bloody try!”

“Alright, fine, I will, you big pussy!”

Finally, Ryan could see the owners of the voices; from behind the bushes where he stood, he saw two boys, both a lot younger than him- one with messy, straw-like hair and a larger than average nose, and another with cleanly kept dark hair and a bandage wrapped around his right upper arm. Curious to see what they were doing, he paused.

 

* * *

 

 

“Mew, why do you have to do everything so perfectly?” Gavin snapped. Ray glared at him from where he was kneeling down in front of the firewood.

“Man, sorry for trying to prevent the field from catching fire,” he retorted. “Thought that’d be kind of important.”

“I was trying to do the same thing!”

“Like I said, it was going to get us killed.”

The Pokémon were off to the side, watching their owners’ bicker, unsure of what to do. Togepi was curled up next to Midnight, who was giving Gavin a slightly disappointed stare, while Budew and Cyndaquil were both laughing nervously.

“Cyndaquil, can you come here for a second?” Ray called. The Pokémon smiled and bounced over quickly, ready to do as told. “When I tell you to, could you use Ember on this pile of wood?”

It nodded with a cry of agreement, and Ray grinned at it.

“Great! Thanks, Cyndaquil!”

With that taken care of, he leaned in close to the wood so that his face was right next to it. Gavin stifled a laugh.

“What the hell are you doing?”

Ray let out a sigh. “I’m doing this so I can see if it’ll light up. It’s not like the entire thing will go up in a flash with one little Ember attack, will it?” He then looked at his Pokémon. “Go ahead, Cyndaquil.”

“ _Wait!_ ”

Just as Cyndaquil was letting out the small flames, a pair of unfamiliar strong arms yanked Ray back and away from the fire, quick enough that he barely had the time to yelp in surprise. He was about to get angry when he saw, just as he had not expected, the entire pile of firewood went up in flames. His eyes grew wide; Gavin came rushing over as soon as Ray was put on his feet again.

“Bloody hell, are you alright?!”

“What the hell were you _thinking_?!”

The two turned to the man behind them, who had an angry look on his face. Ray swallowed nervously.

“I-I thought-”

“That it wouldn’t go up that quick?” he asked. Ray nodded. “I heard that. You’ve gotta be more careful with what you’re doing, okay?”

Ray nodded again, feeling his throat tighten a little as he looked away. Gavin elbowed him and laughed.

“I told you not to do it, but do you ever listen to me?” he joked. He didn’t wait for Ray to react before he turned to the man. “Thanks for saving this dope, by the way. I wouldn’t have been able to help him with burns. Sableye wounds maybe, but burns are out of my knowledge. What’s your name?”

“I’m Ryan Haywood, a Pokémon Breeder. And you two?”

“I’m Gavin Free; I’m a Pokémon Photographer!” He pointed at the dark haired boy staring at the ground. “And that’s Ray Narvaez Jr, he’s a Pokémon Trainer!”

Ryan smiled and nodded. “Well, it’s nice to meet you guys,” he said.

“You too! It’s top!”

“… ‘Top’?”

Ray laughed quietly. “I’ve been trying to figure out what it means for the past two days,” he said, his voice just above a whisper.

“What?” Gavin hollered. “I thought you knew what it meant! It’s a common phrase!”

“I’m pretty sure it’s not,” Ryan replied. “I think this is the first time I’ve ever heard it.”

“Well, it’s common in Gubbin City, that’s for sure!”

“This isn’t Gubbin though, kid, this is Route 17. Big difference.”

Gavin huffed and sat himself down on one of the logs. “Whatever. I’m telling you, it’s a thing!”

Ryan held up his hands. “I never said that it wasn’t!”

The three went quiet for a moment, until Ryan shuffled awkwardly and readjusted his black backpack and pointed his thumb towards the path. “I should probably go,” he said, “I need to go find a campsite and unpack still. It was nice meeting you two! Be careful, okay?”

He was halfway back to the path when Ray made the sudden decision. He quickly started to run towards him, hand extended.

“Wait, Ryan- whoa!”

Just after he’d taken his third step, his foot caught on a stray rock, tripping him quick enough that he couldn’t put his arms out to brace himself. He ended up landing on his chest, with his chin hitting one of the logs at full speed. He groaned and rolled over as the other two ran to him.

“Well, that was entertaining!”

“Are you okay?”

Ryan placed his hands on Ray’s shoulder to help him sit up before walking around to the front of him. “Let me see your chin.”

Gently, the man placed two fingers on the bottom of the Trainer’s jaw, lifting it just enough so he could inspect it carefully, which was a challenge in itself due to the rapidly depleting light. Gavin sat on the log next to where Ray was sat on the ground, and he smiled down at the youngest.

“You’re just having one of those days, aren’t you?”

Ray glared at him for a reply.

Without even looking away, Ryan pulled out a PokeBall and sent out his Pokémon; Ray couldn’t help but let in a small gasp, while Gavin grinned and laughed a little. Ryan ignored this and reached into his bag, pulling out a small plastic bag.

“Exor, can you use Ice Beam into this bag for me?”

The Starmie nodded and did as told. A small smile formed on the Trainer’s lips, although it quickly diminished into a flinch as the bag of ice was pressed against his chin.

“Sorry,” Ryan laughed, “I guess I should have warned you. Now, what was it that you’d wanted to tell me?”

Ray swallowed. “I- Uh, I was gonna say thanks for saving me. I guess I should double that though, shouldn’t I? I mean the thanks, since you’re doing this, too…”

Ryan let out a small “oh” and smiled at him. “It’s not a problem. I’m glad I could help!”

“I-I-Uh, I was also wondering if, uh, if you’d want to set up camp with us tonight?” Ray added. He then quickly looked at Gavin. “I mean, uh, i-if that’s okay with you, Gavin. I-I mean if it’s not that’s fine, but uh…”

“Man, you are really awkward when you meet new people, huh? Of course it’s fine with me!” Gavin laughed, not noticing the way Ray’s face fell a bit. “What do you say, Ryan? Care to join us?”

The man smiled with a look of pity on his face; he had realized in the past few minutes that if these two were as clumsy as they seemed, they needed all of the help they could get. “Sure,” he said, “I’ll spend the night with you two.”

Gavin grinned, and Ray gave a shaky smile to the two.

“Great!” Gavin exclaimed. “Now Ray can be bothering two people at once!”

The smile dissolved off of his face, and he looked to the ground, his stomach dropping rapidly.

“Nah, I’m just kidding, Ray! You’re not _that_ annoying.” He laughed, but the Trainer didn’t drop the thought. Was he actually joking, or was that just a cover to make it seem like he was nice in front of Ryan?

“Hey, didn’t I hear Gavin say something about a Sableye wound?” Ryan suddenly asked. “Is that what’s under this bandage?”

“Yeah! There were some blokes yesterday that called themselves Team Freelancer that Ray and I battled, and when Ray lost, the crazy bitch just attacked him with her Pokémon!” Gavin explained quickly. “She was rude as hell, too. Kept calling him pathetic just because he’s just started his journey!”

Ryan nodded at Gavin’s explanation and turned to Ray. “Do you mind if I take a look at it?”

He swallowed and shook his head. “N-No, go ahead.”

He and Gavin shared a nervous look. To be honest, neither of them had taken off the bandages since it happened, so there was no way to tell if it had gotten infected or something like that. The Photographer shrugged and turned his gaze to the Breeder as he unraveled the bandages. Ray soon did the same.

When the wound finally came into view, Ryan stayed silent. There was no reaction in the slightest on his face, which made the younger two worry. Ray looked down and realized just how bad they would had been; he could see where each of the three claws had landed its attack, and the one in the middle was slightly deeper than the other two. Based on the amount of blood on the bandages, he guessed he had been bleeding pretty heavily, and that those bandages shouldn’t have been enough, but somehow were.

Finally, an at least slightly approving look formed on Ryan’s face. “This happened yesterday, didn’t it? It’s healing pretty quickly!”

“Is it really?” Gavin questioned. “It still looks pretty bad… I only put those on so that we could keep in uninfected until we got to a Pokémon Center.”

“Well, I’m not a doctor, that’s for sure,” Ryan pointed out, “So you might still want to get it checked out. But from what I can tell, since it’s scabbing over so quickly for such a deep cut, it seems to be healing fine.”

The Photographer smiled and gently punched Ray in the shoulder, making sure to miss the wound. “Nice job, Ray!”

“I didn’t do anything…,” he whispered. Ryan smiled at him and stood up.

“It’s definitely starting to get late,” he said. “Have you guys eaten anything yet?”

They both shook their heads, blushes forming on their faces; truth be told, they’d only been eating granola bars for the past couple of days, since neither of them had any experience in cooking. It seemed like Ryan could read their minds, and he sighed.

“You haven’t been eating well at all, have you?”

“Just granola bars for the past few meals,” Gavin informed with a nervous laugh. “We’re not exactly chefs…”

He placed his fingers on his forehead. “Seriously? Why didn’t you guys eat fruit or anything like that? That would have been much healthier than granola bars!”

“Are they not good for you…?”

“No! At least, not enough to sustain you for months!” He shook his head. _These guys need all the help they can get…_

He heard Ray whisper, “Sorry,” and look to the ground. Ryan pressed his lips together and sighed again.

“If you would like me to, I could make you guys something. At least for tonight, so you don’t die of malnutrition.”

“Oh my Mew, could you?” Gavin spewed with joy. “That’d be top! Thanks!”

Ray gave him a tentative smile. “Yeah, thank you.”

 

* * *

 

 

A few hours later, the three were sprawled out in their sleeping bags around the fire, staring up at the stars and speaking in low voices.

“So you’re a Breeder,” Gavin said.

Ryan paused before nodding. “Yeah…?”

“What made you decide to become one?”

“Oh my Mew, Gavin, not this again…,” Ray sighed.

Gavin sat up on his elbow to look at the Trainer. “What? I’m curious!”

The two began to bicker as Ryan settled further into his sleeping bag. He, too, had no idea what it was that put him up to this, but he had chosen the path, so he was going to stick to it.

“Well, Gavin,” he replied, interrupting the conversation, “I don’t know why I decided it, to be honest. All that I know right now is that I’m going to Entity City to sight see a little before getting down to work on it.”

“You’re going to Entity, too?” Ray asked quietly.

Ryan sat up a bit. “Is that where you two are headed?”

“Yeah! Ray’s heading there to get his first badge, and I’m just tagging along with him!”

The Breeder raised an eyebrow. “Why’d you guys come through Route 17, then? Wouldn’t it have been quicker if you’d gone through Route 19 instead?”

Ray laughed nervously while Gavin grinned at the youngest. “Well, this dope went down the wrong path, and we bumped into each other when he was on his way.”

“More like I saved your ass from the river current. Don’t think I’ve forgotten that.”

Gavin laughed and lay back down. “Nah, I remember. Don’t worry about that.” He turned his head to look at Ryan. “What about you, then? Why’d you go this way instead of Route 19?”

“I just wanted to see how many different types of Pokémon I could come across,” he explained. “Just trying to pass the time, you know?”

Gavin nodded and looked back to the sky. “Where’re you from, anyway? You don’t seem like you’re familiar with Beacon Region stuff…”

“I’m originally from Sinnoh, Canalave City to be exact,” Ryan said. “But I’ve been to a few other regions since I left on a journey. I’m pretty familiar with other regions, and I usually do research before coming, but I sort of forgot for this one…”

There was a pause in the conversation. “Ray?”

“Yeah, Gav?”

“Did I ever ask you where you’re from?”

He laughed quietly. “No, you didn’t. I’m from Nucom Village, which is like a half day’s walk away from Dirtbag Town.”

“Oh! I… Have absolutely no idea where that is.”

Ray laughed louder. “It’s alright. Not many people do.”

There was another limbo of silence between the three; Ray rolled onto his side and pulled off his glasses, setting them to the side of his sleeping bag and pressing his face into the pillow. He was beginning to reach the point where he was missing his own bed- or even a bed in general –so he tried to get himself to sleep quickly. The last thing he heard before he was gone was a small conversation between Ryan and Gavin.

“Ryan?”

“Gavin?”

“Do you want to travel with us? You know, until we get to Entity, that is.”

“…Yeah. Yeah, sure. Sounds fun. You guys need all the help you can get anyways.”

Gavin laughed. Ray smiled and went to sleep.

 

* * *

 

 

The next morning, after Gavin had re-explained the conversation they’d thought Ray had been sleeping through and Ryan made them a healthy breakfast, they were heading down the path towards the next town with hardly any talking. Gavin and Ryan were walking next to each other, and Ray was behind Gavin- which created a problem when the Photographer stopped walking, causing Ray to walk directly into him.

“Oof- Gavin, what…?”

“Quiet,” he whispered. The other two paused, waiting for Gavin to explain what caused his to stop walking. Slowly, he looked around, a concentrated look on his face, until his shoulders dropped and he sighed. “Sorry about that. I thought I heard something, like music.”

“Music?” Ray mumbled. Ryan felt his face heat up, and as they began to walk again, he kept his eyes on the ground and his focus on his voice.

A few minutes after that, Gavin heard the music again, although Ray realized that he was hearing it, too. They looked at each other, confused as hell, until the Trainer looked at Ryan and realized that his lips were moving. He stepped a little closer, listening in a little harder to hear the words.

“I love to travel; it’s true; I love a change of venue, a change of menu, the feeling when you meet with something strange…”

A small smile formed on his lips, and he decided not to say anything, as Ryan’s voice was soft and deep, giving it the type of extremely calming tone that Ray loved.

“Ryan, what are you on about?”

Ray almost cursed when Ryan stopped suddenly to look at the straw haired. “What?”

“You were singing,” Gavin said. “Something about traveling and stuff.” The Breeder blushed a ridiculous shade of red. “O-Oh, sorry! I kinda have a really bad habit of singing at random times, and I usually don’t notice it until someone points it out. Sorry, I’ll try to not do that, if it annoys you.”

Gavin sighed and looked away; Ray looked up at him with a sheepish look.

“I don’t know, it sounded kind of nice. You don’t have to stop if you don’t want to,” he said, softly enough that Gavin wouldn’t hear.

Ryan smiled softly, and they continued down the path with his soft humming guiding them as the journey continued.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the read!
> 
> Songs Ryan was singing:  
> First: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZYGbfms-Js  
> Second: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGfRU3nF-p0


	6. R&R Training!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Gavin is down with a migraine, Ray takes the opportunity to see how Ryan does his training.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PokeDex Entries from here: http://www.amazon.com/Pokemon-Essential-Handbook-Scholastic/dp/0545427711
> 
> Beacon Region Map: http://sweetiecurfyart.tumblr.com/post/111232399174/here-it-is-a-map-of-the-beacon-region-used
> 
> My art will be posted here: http://sweetiecurfyart.tumblr.com/

With Pokémon Breeder Ryan Haywood now having joined our team, Ray and his friends have paused their journey to Entity City to take a much needed break in a nearby field.

As the three sat in the shade under a pair of trees, Gavin took a deep, stressed breath and placed his hands on the sides of his head. “Damn it… I think I feel I migraine coming on…”

Ray and Ryan both sent him a concerned look. “Do you have them often?” Ryan asked.

Gavin shut his eyes and nodded. “Yeah, I used to have medication for it, but I stopped taking it because it screwed with my vision and made me really tired all the time. I only ever get them every few weeks, though. Nothing too terrible.”

“That doesn’t sound like it’s not too terrible,” Ray replied. “It sounds awful…”

“I can deal with them. I just have to sleep them off.” He winced, curling his head into himself a little. “Ah, Mew damn it, there it is…”

Ryan started pulling his bag off. “Do you need any pain medication?”

“No, I’ll be fine,” he said as he lay himself down. “I just need to sleep… Sorry, guys.”

“If that’s what you need to do, then do it,” Ray whispered. “Nothing to be sorry for.” He then grabbed Ryan’s hand and pulled him away from the trees. “Can you help me train a bit? Like, just a little? Would that be okay?”

Ryan nodded and gave him a soft smile. “Sure, no problem. Let’s just keep it down, okay?”

“Right. Can you show me how you do your training?”

Ryan nodded. Once they were far enough away from Gavin to be out of earshot, Ryan pulled out a PokeBall and sent out his Pokémon. It let out a cry, which Ryan quickly shushed.

“This is Edgar,” he said. “I’ve had it since I was travelling in Kanto, which was my first time out of Sinnoh. I personally find it my right hand Pokémon.”

Ray pulled out his PokeDex and scanned it quickly.

_Tauros, the Wild Bull Pokémon. Very violent by nature, Tauros will attack a foe by charging head-on._   
_Owned by: Ryan Haywood_

“Is that a PokeDex?” Ryan asked, pointing to the red device. Ray smiled and nodded.

“Yeah, Professor Hullum gave it to me and said it’s the only working one he had. He’s the guy who gave me Cyndaquil,” he explained.

The Breeder smiled. “Cool. I think that’s the most interesting looking one I’ve seen so far.”

“Do you have one from Sinnoh?” Ray asked.

He shook his head. “Nah, I didn’t really want one, plus I never went to see Professor Rowan before going on my journey. I just caught Exor with my older brother’s PokeBall and left. That was back when it was a Staryu.” He smiled fondly at the memory. “That was a long time ago…”

Ray looked at the Tauros. “So, how do you train Edgar, then?”

The Breeder turned his attention back to the task on hand. “Here, I’ll show you. Stand back, alright? I don’t want you to get hurt.”

With a swallow, Ray stepped off to the side. Ryan pulled a ball out of his backpack, holding it in the air.

“You know the drill, Edgar!”

It let out a quiet huff of agreement, getting into its battle stance. There was a beat of silence before Ryan threw the ball into the air. The Tauros charged after it and leaped up to whack it with its head. Its owner quickly caught it, throwing it immediately afterwards. They repeated these actions for a few minutes; Ryan slowly made his way near Ray.

“Right now, we’re trying to get it to learn Zen Headbutt.” He threw the ball again. “By hitting this ball over and over, its stamina is growing, and eventually it’ll- oh, shit!”

Ray watched Edgar hit the ball directly in the direction of the sleeping Photographer, wincing when it hit him directly on the head. He sat up quickly and sent a pain filled glare at them.

“Can you guys do something else, please? Something that doesn’t involve hitting a ball around?”

“Sorry, Gavin! That was my fault. I’ll try something else!” Ryan hollered over.

After another dirty look, Gavin turned and lay back down, curling into himself and sighing. Ryan gave Ray a nervous smile.

“Well… Let’s try something else then.”

“Okay.”

He put Edgar back into its PokeBall and turned to Ray. “Do you still want to see how I train my Pokémon?”

The Trainer nodded. “Yes, of course!”

“Alright, then. Edgar II, come on out!”

Once it was standing in front of them, Ray ran a quick scan of it.

_Nuzleaf, the Wily Pokémon. If you are in the deep forests Nuzleaf inhabits and you hear the sound of its grass flute, you will become uneasy._   
_Owned by: Ryan Haywood_

He went over to one of the trees and snapped off a thin branch before returning to face his Pokémon. “We’re trying to increase the strength of its Razor Leaf right now. The power of a move is just as important as the move itself, you know.”

Ray nodded in understanding and stood against a tree, waiting to see what would happen.

“Edgar II? Let’s do this!”

The Nuzleaf leaped into the air, swinging the leaf atop its head around and shooting out small, disc shaped leaves towards the Breeder. With great skill and precision, he twirled the branch around, knocking each leaf to the ground in turn. Ray stared in awe as this continued; it was like something straight out of a kung fu film had come to life. He was breathless as he watched the older swipe the branch across and throw his leg up for extra force. Eventually, the man pulled off his black vest, leaving him in just his mid-sleeved purple shirt. Ray could see the sweat sliding down his face regardless, and he cast a worried frown towards him.

“Uh, d-do you think you should take off your shirt?” he asked. “I mean, you look really warm…”

Ryan froze for a second; Ray cringed when he saw the blood drain from his face a little. Slowly, the man looked at him and forced a smirk onto his face.

“You wanna see what’s under there, kid?”

Ray’s eyes widened, and he shook his head frantically, trying to rid himself of the blush. “No! No, that’s not what I meant! I mean, like, you’re really sweating and I just don’t want you to pass out from being over heated and stuff and…”

Ryan laughed to cut him off. “Hey, calm down, I’m just joking. You do seriously have a point, though.” Quietly, he returned Edgar II into its PokeBall and came over to the tree Ray was at, sitting down and looking up at the younger. “Well, come on, aren’t you going to sit down, too?”

“O-Oh! Right.”

The two were silent for a bit, just watching the clouds roll past and casting a glance at Gavin every once in a while to make sure he hadn’t died yet. Soon, Ryan sighed and put his hands behind his head.

“You really are clueless as to how to take care of yourself, huh?”

Ray blinked. “I-I guess…? Why?”

“I was just thinking back to that first night we met, and how you and Gavin both were so lost with everything I was doing,” he explained. “I thought you two might know a little bit more, but I had been wrong. Thank Arceus that Gavin knew how to take care of that Sableye wound, though. I don’t think you would have lasted long without him- no offense, of course.”

“None taken,” Ray mumbled as he looked down at his arm. The bandages had come off finally, and the scratch marks were beginning to disappear a little. The others figured that there would be scars, but only time would tell. Truth be told, Ray would take scars over bleeding out to death any day. “I still have yet to thank him,” he whispered.

Ryan raised an eyebrow. “I thought Gavin said you thanked him as soon as he had finished?”

Ray shrugged. “I might have. I don’t know. I want to thank him again, though. You know, just in case, right?”

He was given a confused smile. “Okay, sure, yeah. I guess that makes sense.”

They were quiet again; Ray knew exactly what he wanted to ask, but he bit his lip and started to play with the hem of his shirt. Ryan picked up on this and looked at him.

“You okay, there?”

Ray gave him a quick glance before looking at the ground. See, the thing was, Ray still had yet to tell either of them about his anxiety disorder, so his little habits, like biting his lip and playing with the hem of his shirt, just looked odd to them and made them question him. He knew that the longer he waited to tell them, the less likely it was that he’d tell them at all, but at this point, he thought he’d be okay with that.

“I’m fine,” he replied with a convincing smile. The question could wait until later, he supposed.

Ryan eventually sat up straight to look at the younger. “How about you try out some of that training I was showing you?”

The next thing Ray knew, he was standing in front of Budew with a large stick in his hands. He swallowed and looked at Ryan.

“Are you sure this is a good idea…?”

“I’m positive,” the Breeder reassured. “You’ll be fine. Just hit it back with the branch and you’ll be fine!”

Ray swallowed again and looked back at Budew. His muscles were tensing up, and he bit his lip, nodding at the Pokémon. “O-Okay… Go ahead, Budew!” It nodded and shot a thin, pale green beam at Ray, who squeaked and hit it away. Budew ran to the side and shot it again, this time quicker than the first. The Trainer swung again, but had to duck this time to avoid being hit. These maneuvers continues on for a long while, until eventually, something changed.

Budew shot the Absorb attack like normal- except, it wasn’t. It was thick this time, and the previous pale green had changed into an almost neon dark green. Ray gasped and hit it, but it split and hit Ray directly in the chest. He yelped; from where he was, he heard Ryan make a noise that sounded like he was impressed.

“Wow! That’s Mega Drain!”

And drain it did. As Ray stood there, completely encapsulated by the green light, he could feel all of the energy being sapped from his body. By the time the light went away, he could hardly stand on his own two feet; luckily, Ryan was nearby, and he rushed over and grabbed ahold of him before he hit the ground. Budew was at his side soon after, crying out in apology. Ryan glanced at it before looking back at the Trainer.

“You okay, there, Ray?”

He nodded, despite the fact that he could barely keep his eyes open. He caught the sight of Ryan smiling sympathetically.

“Okay, sure. Whatever you say,” he laughed. “I think that’s enough training for one day, though. What do you say we go see how Gavin’s feeling?”

Without even waiting for a response, he started to walk the weak over to the tree, letting his Pokémon follow closely behind. He set him down gently and crouched down next to Gavin.

“How’re you feeling?” he asked quietly.

“Awful,” he whispered in reply. “It hurt so much that I can’t even sleep…”

Ryan softly rubbed his shoulder. “Are you sure you don’t want any pain medication?”

Gavin hesitated, but nodded nonetheless. “I can deal with it for a little longer. I’ll get to sleep eventually.” He caught sight of Ray, who had leaned against the tree and shut his eyes by then. “Is he alright?”

After a brief glance, the Breeder sighed and responded, “I think so. He’s just a little… low on energy, is all. Don’t worry about him. Just try to get some sleep, okay?”

The Photographer nodded and shut his eyes again before curling up into a ball, placing his head between his arms. Ray opened his eyes long enough to crawl over to Gavin and lay next to him; Ryan stood and shook his head at the two.

“You guys really are clueless…,” he sighed quietly. “I’m going to go fix some food for us, alright? Try to get some rest, both of you. I’ll be back over in a little while.”

He got no response from either of them, so he left in the direction of where they’d dropped their bags in a pile. Gavin rolled over so that he was facing Ray.

“So what happened?” he rasped out.

Ray opened his eyes a crack and pulled off his glasses. “Training with Budew. It learned Mega Drain, I guess. Didn’t have enough time to block it.”

Gavin hummed in understanding and swallowed, trying to ignore the oncoming nausea. “That sounds awful.” “Not as bad as that migraine you’ve got,” Ray replied. “Seriously, man, get some sleep. You need it.”

“It might go away. Probably will in like an hour, if I can’t sleep.”

“What are you, an expert on migraines?” Ray joked.

Gavin scowled at him. “Are you kidding? I could write a damn book on them.” He lifted one arm and opened his hand, swooping it across the two’s vision. “’What Sucks About Migraines’, written by Vav- Er, Gavin Free.”

Ray snickered. “’Vav’? Did you just mispronounce your own name?”

The Photographer intensified his glare. “Shut up. You know what I meant.”

“Do I? Do I, really?”

“Ray…!”

The quiet bickering continued until Ray realized that Gavin had finally gone to sleep; with a smile, he shut his eyes again and did the same. Ryan came back later, but he chose to let them sleep, sneaking a photo on Gavin’s camera before settling down to let himself rest a bit before they set out the next day to have the journey continue.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter's kinda short, and for that I apologize. Next week's is a bit longer though!
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	7. Enter Michael! Do You Even Like Me??

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gavin fucks up- surprise, surprise -and their savior takes a liking to them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PokeDex Entires from: http://www.amazon.com/Pokemon-Essential-Handbook-Scholastic/dp/0545427711
> 
> Beacon Region Map: sweetiecurfyart.tumblr.com/post/111232399174/here-it-is-a-map-of-the-beacon-region-used  
> All of my art will be posted: http://sweetiecurfyart.tumblr.com/

A Growlithe was strutting through the woods, sniffing the ground in an attempt to follow a scent that it had found recently. It looked up and sprinted off in a direction, ignoring its partner’s calls for it.

“Growlithe, did you find something? Wait for me!”

The Pokémon darted around a tree with a low branch, nearly causing Pokémon Ranger Michael Jones to hit his head off of it before he continued the chase. He laughed softly at its eagerness, but cursed when he smashed his way through a large piece of shrubbery.

Suddenly, the Growlithe stopped dead in its tracks; Michael had to skid to a stop right behind it to avoid tripping. He quickly looked up, seeing what had created such a tense air around his partner Pokémon: an empty cave.

A loud scream echoed through the trees, and after a quick glance at each other, the Ranger and Pokémon were off.

 

* * *

 

 

Ray and Ryan were standing on the path alone, sighing as they waited for Gavin to return. He’d run off moments ago when he saw something off the path that he thought would make a great photo, and he refused to keep traveling until he captured it. The Trainer and the Breeder were forced to wait near the trees, groaning each minute the Photographer didn’t return.

Eventually, Ryan looked at Ray with a slightly concerned look. “So, how’re you feeling after yesterday?” he asked. “Are you still tired? I saw that you were sleeping in…”

Ray shrugged. “Yeah, but that’s pretty normal. I’m always tired, really.”

Ryan was about to ask another question when a thick screech pierced their ears.

“Gavin?” Ray yelped.

The next thing they saw was Gavin running towards them and pushing them to start running.

“Go, go, go, go, go!”

“Gavin, what’s going on?” Ryan asked quickly. “What’s happening?”

“Just run! I’ll explain when we-!”

A loud roar from the woods cut him off, followed by a very angry Ursaring soon after.

“What the _hell_ did you do?!”

They were tearing down the path in no time, and Gavin was very quickly speaking; Ray could barely pick up on anything, but he understood a few words here and there.

“…was trying to fight it off, but then I realized that Midnight’s terrified of Ursaring, and Togepi’s…”

“…but then it started chasing me and I couldn’t…”

“…and it forced me out of the tree and the only thing I could think to do was to come and…”

And then it happened.

One moment, Ryan was running on the other side of Gavin, his face focused on keeping his speed; the next, he was gone, and when Ray looked, he saw the Breeder on the ground. He started running towards him.

“Ryan!”                            

The oldest of the group turned, saw the Ursaring rapidly approaching, and screamed, throwing his hands up to protect his face.

“Staravia, use Arial Ace!”

When Ryan opened his eyes, he saw the Pokémon attacking the Ursaring. He looked over to the side of the path, spotting a man, older than the other two but younger than him, running over and standing in front of the fallen Breeder. A Growlithe was at his side, and he quickly commanded it to use Flamethrower. Soon, the livid Pokémon had run off, leaving the four alone in a painful fury.

Gavin quickly turned on Ray. “You dope! Why didn’t you scan that with your PokeDex?”

“Ryan was nearly just killed and all that you care about is my PokeDex? Are you fucking serious?” Ray shot him a glare after he hissed the words. “You are unbelievable!”

“What? I’m just trying to help you!”

Ryan stood up and swallowed, brushing the dirt off of his clothes and looking at the fourth. “Thank you,” he said. “Ignore those two; they’re always fighting.”

The man shrugged and rubbed the back of his head. “Eh, it wasn’t that big of a deal. Just an Ursaring.” He turned to the Staravia, pressing a button on the device in his hands that Ryan had failed to notice before then. “Thanks for the help, Staravia.”

It cried out as if it were saying “you’re welcome” and flew off. Gavin came up to stand next to Ryan.

“Hey, thanks for saving this prick,” he said with a smile. “I don’t know what we would’ve done without him!”

From where he stood in the back, Ray took a look at the new comer; he wore a typical Pokémon Ranger uniform from Almia, although he had added a black beanie with a red PokeBall insignia on the front, and a pair of thin-rimmed glasses on his face. He swallowed thickly and tried to stay unnoticeable behind the other two.

“I’m Gavin, by the way!” the Photographer informed. “I’m a Pokémon Photographer. I assume you’re a Pokémon Ranger?”

The guy smiled. “Yeah, I’m from Almia. Just finished my training. My name’s Michael.”

Ryan hummed. “Well, it’s nice to meet you, Michael,” he said. “I’m Ryan, and I’m a Pokémon Breeder.”

“Hey, you too, man,” he responded. “So, who’re you, back there?”

Ray snapped his head up, suddenly losing his vocal chords to the tightness in his chest. “I-I… I…”

Gavin grabbed the Trainer’s shoulders with a grin. “This is Ray! He’s a Trainer and absolutely shy around new people. Don’t let that make you think he doesn’t like you, though!” When Gavin laughed, Ray’s stomach dropped. Had Gavin initially thought that of him when they met?

Michael nodded at Gavin’s information and looked at Ray. “There’s no need to be shy, you know. I won’t bite!”

Ray forced an extremely fake smile on his face and looked at the ground. _It’s not my fault…,_ he thought.

Gavin’s punch on the shoulder brought him out of his mind. “C’mon, why aren’t you using your PokeDex yet?”

He gave him a confused look. “What?”

“There’s a Growlithe right there! Aren’t you going to scan it?”

Michael looked down. “Oh! That’s my partner Pokémon, Growlithe,” he pointed out.

After a stern look from the straw haired, the Trainer pulled the red device out of his pocket and pointed it at the Pokémon.

“Well? What’s it say?” Ryan pressed, picking up on Gavin’s urging.

“U-Uh… ‘Growlithe, the Puppy Pokémon. An extremely obedient Pokémon, Growlithe will wait patiently for orders by its Trainer.’”

“Well, you can’t say that’s wrong!” Michael laughed. “Growlithe’s got to be the most obedient Pokémon I’ve ever met!”

Ray sent him a timid smile, and Ryan asked, “So, what’re you doing all the way out here if you’re from Almia?”

Michael put his hands behind his head and smiled. “Well, after we all graduated from the Academy, they sent us to different regions to watch over certain places or protect people from vicious Pokémon. I got sent here, and they told me that I was good enough to just go where ever I needed to and keep a close eye out for certain Pokémon. Sometimes they send me a mission for something if I’m in the area, and I got sent here to teach that Ursaring a lesson.” He put his arms down. “Which, I think I got that down pretty well!”

Gavin pulled his arms away from Ray to throw them towards the Ranger. “That’s absolutely top! I’d love to do stuff like that!”

“’Top’? The fuck does that even mean?” Michael laughed.

“We’ve given up on trying to figure out his vocabulary,” Ryan sighed. “It’s way too fucked up to even understand half of the time.”

“I told you, I’m from Gubbin! This kind of stuff is common over there!”

Michael sighed and looked at him. “Is that where you guys are headed? Gubbin City?”

Ray shook his head. “We’re going to Entity City, actually.”

The Ranger raised an eyebrow. “Why’d you come through Route 17? Wouldn’t it have been quicker to go through 18 or 19?”

Gavin groaned and slid to the ground, while Ryan laughed and Ray sighed.

“Why does everyone have to ask that? This is, like, the fourth bloody time we’ve had to explain this!”

“We all ran into each other in turn,” Ryan explained, “And if it hadn’t have been for Ray, none of us would have met.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah, he went down the wrong path, apparently, and he saved Gavin from a river current, which brought them together, and then I saved him from burning his face off just a few days ago.”

Michael snorted. “You guys sound really accident prone.”

“Why do you think I stayed with them?” Ryan laughed. “It was to keep these two out of trouble!”

“Seems like you’re doing a great job at it, too, according to that incident we just had,” Michael said. The Breeder laughed nervously and scratched the back of his neck.

“Well, you know…”

Gavin stood up and looked at one of the trees. “You know… These trees are giving off a really weird lighting effect!” he exclaimed.

Ryan sighed and put his hand on his face. “Here we go…”

“Ray, get out your Cyndaquil!”

“W-What? Why?”

“Just do it!” He pulled out his camera as Ray got his Pokémon out. “Let it stand on the path, alright?”

“Okay…? What are you…?”

“You’ll see!”

The three stopped to watch as Gavin backed away enough and held the camera up. He was about to snap a photo when he sighed and started to climb into the tree he’d been looking at moments before.

Michael crossed his arms. “Gavin, what are you doing?”

“I’m trying… To get… A great picture! What’s it look like?” His speech slowed as he ascended.

“I wouldn’t stand on that branch if I were you,” Michael said as he got closer.

“Why n-!”

The branch snapped under his foot, and the Photographer would have hit the ground hard if it hadn’t have been for the Ranger standing at the bottom. He had quickly shot his arms out, and now he was standing with Gavin in his arms like a newly married couple. Gavin’s face heated up before he looked at Michael with a sly look.

“So… Come here often?”

The auburn haired dropped him to the ground with a solid _thud_ as the other two laughed.

Gavin stood and sighed, pulling his camera into his hands. “Well… I guess this angle will have to do.” Quickly, he snapped the picture and thanked Ray before putting it away. He looked at the other two and shrugged; Ray put Cyndaquil back in its PokeBall while Ryan looked back.

“Well… I guess we’d better be going,” Ryan stated. He looked at Michael. “Thanks again, for everything. It was great to meet you!”

They turned and started walking after some goodbyes, and they weren’t far down the path when they heard, “Guys, wait!”

The three turned to watch the Ranger and Pokémon come running after them. Once they had caught up, he said, “Do you mind if Growlithe and I come with you guys for a while? We’ve got nothing to do anyway, now that that Ursaring’s been taken care of.”

Ryan smiled. “Sure! I don’t have a problem with it!”

“Of course!” Gavin cheered. “I’d love it if you came with us!”

They looked at Ray, who had tipped his head down to face the ground. When he realized that everyone was looking at him, he looked up and took a shaky breath.

“Y-Yeah, I don’t care,” he said quickly. Michael smiled and slapped a hand on his shoulder, which Ray unintentionally tensed at.

“Thanks, guys,” he said, “I really appreciate it.”

With that, they kept walking down the path in the soft sunlight of the day. Michael was softly asking each of them questions about what they were doing; what they do with Pokémon, why they’re going to Entity City, and so on. Ray kept as his answers as short as possible for his until Michael would move on to Ryan or Gavin. At one point, when he went to Gavin immediately after, he sighed and looked at the Pokémon Photographer.

“You know, I’m really starting to think that he doesn’t like me,” he whispered. Gavin sent him a confused look.

“Who? Ray?”

“Yeah, he’s hardly talking to me at all,” Michael informed, “And when he does, everything he says is like, really short, like he wants me to go away or something. I mean, I get that he’s shy, but I feel like this is getting ridiculous.”

Gavin shrugged. “That’s just Ray, I guess. I’ve only known him for a couple of weeks, so I couldn’t be able to tell you if he’s annoyed or not. If you want, I’ll talk to him tonight and see what’s up?”

“That’d be great. Thanks.”

 

* * *

 

 

That afternoon, they were getting a head start on setting up camp. Ryan was starting a fire to cook over, Michael was checking around to make sure there were no dangerous Pokémon, and Ray and Gavin were setting up the sleeping bags. Gavin saw his chance, and he absolutely took it.

“Hey, Ray,” he said, “Can I talk to you for a minute?”

The youngest hesitated, but nodded. “Sure, Vav, what’s up?”

The other opened his mouth to ask, but the name threw him off guard and he sighed. “You’re never going to drop that, are you?”

“Of course not,” he laughed. “Anyway, what did you want to talk about?”

Gavin sat back on his knees and let out a breath. “Do you like Mi-cool?”

Ray felt his face heat up, and he stopped. “What do you mean, ‘like’?”

“Not that kind of like, you dope!” He slapped him on the arm. “You’ve been really quiet around him, and he’s worried that you don’t like him. Do you not like him?”

Once the initial worry that he was flirting had passed, Ray relaxed a little and looked at the ground. “I-I do like him… He’s just…” He shook his head. “Nah, it’s stupid. Forget about it. I don’t dislike him, I promise.” With that, he went back to spreading out the sleeping bags. Gavin frowned and went back to work, vowing to tell Michael later.

 

* * *

 

 

“’Doesn’t dislike’ me? The hell does that mean?”

Gavin shrugged, pulling his knees up to his chest. “I don’t know. I mean, Ray’s not exactly unknown for acting weirdly around people, but this is just… I don’t know.”

Michael and Gavin were sitting by the fire that evening while Ray and Ryan had gone off to clean up the dishes from eating. Michael was sat on a log with Growlithe sleeping nearby, while Gavin was on the ground across from him. The fire between them cast a soft orange glow on each other’s faces.

The Ranger shook his head. “I just don’t understand. We literally haven’t even known each other for a full day, and he’s already against me?” He sighed. “I mean, what the fuck could I have done?”

“He said he didn’t dislike you…” Gavin paused. “Although, he did say something else. Well, he started to, at least, but then he stopped and said it was stupid and to forget about it. That might have something to do with it.”

Michael slid to the ground and crossed his legs. “Whatever. If he’s got a problem with me, he can come and say it to my face. I’m not going to dance around it and ask other people about it behind his back anymore.”

“Mi-cool, I’ve told you, he’s shy!” Gavin replied. “He’s not going to just come up to you and say he hates you, especially since you’ve just met. Hell, he apologizes for every little thing that we come across! If he drops something, if he says something we don’t agree with or he’s afraid we won’t agree with… It’ll never happen, Mi-cool. If you want him to say something to you, you’re going to have to go up to him.”

Michael paused and sighed. True, from what he had seen so far, even he knew the chances of Ray coming up to him were, in fact, very small. But that didn’t give the Trainer the right to ignore him, in his mind. He was about to bring up his point of argument when he saw Ray and Ryan coming back, and he realized he should drop it.

“Why do you always call me Mi-cool?”

“What?”

The Ranger smirked. “You know, Mi-cool. You’ve called me that every time you’ve talked to me. You know my name is Michael, right?”

As the other two sat down, Gavin made a confused noise. “That’s what I’m saying. Mi-cool.”

“See? You just did it again! It’s Michael!”

“I’m saying that! Mi-cool!”

“Michael.”

“Mi-cool.”

“Michael!”

“Mi-cool!”

“Mew damn it, Gavin!”

The Gubbin native started laughing, which sent the other three into fits as well. The commotion stirred Growlithe from its sleep, and after it saw what was causing it, it shut its eyes and curled up again.

Hours later, when the fire was smoldering and the moon was high in the sky, Gavin made sure that Michael and Ryan were asleep before he made his move. He looked over to see that Ray was still wide awake, and tossing and turning all the while. The Photographer reached over and tapped his shoulder, causing the younger to gasp and whip around. Gavin had to stifle his laughter as the Trainer relaxed.

“I thought you were asleep,” Ray whispered. “Sorry!”

“Ray, it’s fine,” he responded lowly. “Don’t worry about it! Stop apologizing all the time, would you?”

“Sorry… I mean- shit! Sorry!” He scrunched his eyes together. “Sorry!” Before he could say another apology, he pressed his hand over his mouth.

Gavin grinned at him. “Mew, relax! You’re fine, you little dope! No need to be so anxious all the time!”

Ray put his glasses on before he propped himself up on his elbows. “Was there something you’d wanted to talk about?”

The smile on the straw haired’s face evaporated. “There is, actually. It’s about Mi-cool… again.”

The Trainer swallowed. “I-I already said I don’t dislike him…”

“It’s not about that,” Gavin whispered with a soft smile. “It’s about when you started to say something, but cut yourself off and said it was dumb. I really want to know what you were going to say, you know? I’m curious.”

Ray took a deep breath and lay himself back down, staring up at the stars. “I just… I find him a little intimidating,” he slowly said. “I mean, he’s really cool, and I really do like him, but being around him just kind of… I don’t know. It’s like he scares me.” He shook his head. “See? I told you it was dumb. It’s just a stupid old problem of mine that I’ve never been able to get over. I’d love it if he were to travel with us, honestly. I’m just kind of scared of him.”

“So… You’ve got no problem with him, aside from the fact that he’s intimidating?” Gavin questioned, rolling onto his back to stare at the moon. Even though he couldn’t see it, Ray nodded.

“Like I said, I’ve had a problem with intimidating people for a long time, especially if I like them. I don’t know how to get over it, and I really wish I did, because it’s just dumb and childish that I can’t talk to someone just because they’re a little stronger than I am.”

Gavin opened his mouth to reassure him that it wasn’t dumb, but before he could, the younger rolled onto his side to face away from him.

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to annoy you with my venting. I didn’t mean it.” From what he could see, Ray seemed to curl into himself a little further. “Night, Vav.”

Gavin sighed. “Goodnight, X-Ray. See you in the morning.”

Ray didn’t question the nickname before he heard Gavin’s soft snores. Once again, he was the last one awake, and he kept trying to get comfortable for the oncoming anxious thoughts that would plague his mind until the early hours of the morning.

 

* * *

 

 

The next morning, they hit the path rather early. Ryan had to take on the long and daunting task of waking Ray, and thus the youngest of the crew was yawning often as they walked. He trailed behind the rest, and he heard their talking, but didn’t register it. The next thing he knew, Michael was pausing in his movement long enough for Ray to catch up to him.

“Didn’t get much sleep last night, did you?” he laughed, watching Ray yawn again. He shook his head wordlessly, and Michael smiled. “Yeah, Gavin told me you guys were talking pretty late last night, and he heard you rolling around for a while after that.”

Ray was much more awake suddenly, and he glanced at Michael, who was watching his reaction. The moment they made eye contact, he inhaled quickly and softly before looking away. _Did Gavin tell him what I said…?_

Michael must have read his mind, because he sighed quietly and said, “He was telling me about what you guys were talking about, too.”

_That fucking asshole._

“O-Oh?” is what he chose to say instead. The Ranger nodded and pulled his beanie down further.

“He said that you said a couple of things that I’m not really happy about hearing,” he informed, looking forward. Ray felt his eyes prickling, figuring he knew where this was going. The other continued, saying, “It kind of made me upset that you were thinking so down on yourself just because you’ve got a small problem. It’s nothing to be ashamed of, you know. We can get past it.”

Ray swallowed and shook his head. “B-But it’s not a small problem,” he said, forcing his voice past his closing in throat. “It’s huge and I can’t get past it.”

Michael threw his arm around the younger’s shoulder. “Okay, so it’s big. So what? We can absolutely get past it. No, no. Stop shaking your head like that! If you keep saying things like that, then you’ll be right!” He felt Ray begin to shake. “Hey, relax. You know how we’re going to get around this?”

Ray swallowed, blinked to get rid of the prickling in his eyes and took a deep breath. “H-How?”

“Just like every other big problem. Just one step at a time, alright?” Michael smiled at him softly. “We can do it. You just gotta take it slowly, okay?”

Ray didn’t believe him, but he nodded anyway, just to make him happy. Thankfully, by the look on Michael’s face, he figured he had done as he had liked to, and he was hoping that would be the end of the conversation. Unfortunately, the Ranger just pulled his hand away from the younger and placed it and the other behind his head.

“There was one other thing that Gavin said you said that I didn’t like…”

Ray swallowed thickly, hoping to get rid of the nausea that had suddenly crept up on him. He looked at Michael so he would know to continue; the older caught the hint and looked forward to speak.

“He said that you were intimidated by me,” he explained, “And if that’s the case, then I’m really sorry for whatever I did to make you feel that way. My job as a Pokémon Ranger is to make everyone feel safe and protected, right? When I intimidate someone, then that just means I wasn’t doing my job right. Gavin told me you didn’t have a reasoning behind it, but I’m still really sorry for whatever it was.”

Even Ray could feel himself trembling now. “It’s okay,” he choked out. “S’not your fault.”

“Except it kind of is,” Michael laughed. Ray was jealous of how easily he was taking all of this. “If you’re scared of me, then it must have been something I did to get you like that. No one is afraid of something over nothing, you know?”

_He obviously doesn’t understand my life,_ Ray thought. _And why would he? He doesn’t have this stupid anxiety to deal with and make him question every last move he makes. He doesn’t sometimes start shaking and throwing up and then have to figure out the reasoning behind it. He doesn’t have anxiety attacks or panic attacks or anything like that. He doesn’t deserve it, either. No one does, except me._

He sighed and shut his eyes, swallowing again. When he opened them, he saw that Michael had gone and caught up with the group. He heard Ryan quietly singing again, and the other two were talking and laughing hysterically. With a sigh, and knowing that this was how it was and how it would most likely always be, he took a deep breath and trudged on, letting their journey continue.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the read!
> 
> (Also sorry that it's a day late... I had a TMJ crisis last night that rendered me incapable of doing anything except sob and watch X-Ray and Vav ^^;)


	8. Bring Magnemite Back to its Pack! Ray Goes Missing!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ryan loses some targets, and he goes looking for them. Not only does he find them, but he finds something else to lead them to the day's adventure.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beacon Region Map: sweetiecurfyart.tumblr.com/post/111232399174/here-it-is-a-map-of-the-beacon-region-used  
> Any of my art will be posted here: sweetiecurfyart.tumblr.com

With a new friend joining the crew on their journey to Entity City, the four have taken some time to help Ray train in preparation for his first gym battle.

Ryan held up the small targets to show Ray. “Here, you see these?”

Ray nodded.

“I use these to help Exor increase its accuracy with its Water Gun. Watch!”

Facing the Starmie on the other side of the path, the Breeder said, “You ready, Exor?”

It gave a cry of agreement, and without saying anything else, Ryan quickly threw each of the three in the air, each at its own time and in a different direction. The water shot out of the tip of the highest point and hit all three, knocking two back onto the path and one into a portion of the woods that they couldn’t see.

Ryan groaned and looked at Gavin. “Are you willing to go get that, Gav?”

“Mew, no!” he replied from where he sat in a tree. “It’s your target, you go get it!”

Michael sighed from above him. “He’s asking nicely, asshole. Can’t you be kind, just for once?”

“Why should I? It’s not like I was the one doing it!”

Ryan rolled his eyes and started to head towards where the target landed. “Fine, _I’ll_ get it.”

Ray swallowed and began to catch up to Ryan. “I can get it, if you need me to.”

“Nah, it’s alright. I’m already going anyway.” With that, he had gone into the woods to search, leaving the other three on their own.

Gavin leaned against the trunk of the tree and looked up a branch to catch sight of the back of Michael, as he was laying on a branch. “So, Mi-cool…”

“Mew damn it, Gav, it’s Michael! Mi! Chael!”

Ray sighed with a smile and sat down next to where Growlithe was curled up, hoping that Ryan wouldn’t be too terribly long.

 

* * *

 

 

Ryan had been digging through bush after bush, looking for the small target, for what felt like ages; he had looked in every possible part he could think of, and was about to give up.

“Seriously, where the fuck could it have gone…?” he said to himself. “It couldn’t have gone that- Ow!”

He turned when something hit him directly on the back of the head and saw just what he had been looking for laying on the ground behind him. He picked it up and investigated it, making sure that it was his.

“That yours?”

Ryan looked up, and his icy blue eyes met a pair of dark brown ones. The look the stranger was giving him was venomous, and he flicked his ear length, black hair out of his face.

The Breeder suddenly understood how Ray felt around Michael. “Yeah, it is. Did you find it?”

The guy rolled his eyes and stormed off, not answering Ryan’s question. The man stood and raised an eyebrow at the disappearing figure.

“Thanks, by the way!”

He flinched when he saw him flipping him off, and he got the feeling that this was how Michael had felt when he thought Ray disliked him for no reason. He shook his head and started to head back when a Pokémon cry caught his ear.

 

* * *

 

 

“But Mi-cool-!”

“Oh my Mew, Gavin, I swear to Arceus, if you don’t shut the hell up, I’m going to shove this branch up your ass.”

Ray tucked his head into his knees, tired of the arguing between the two and super ready for the Pokémon Breeder to return. He ignored the next few yells, until he heard a screech and a hard thud from directly next to him. After jumping about a foot in the air, he looked up to see Gavin laying and groaning, while Michael was laughing hysterically and Growlithe was licking the Photographer’s face.

“Ray, you flinched so fucking hard!”

The Trainer growled silently and looked away, resting his cheek on his knee. The other two bickered for a little while longer until they heard some rustling in the bushes. Ray had never been so relieved to see the floppy, light brown hair in his life.

“That took bloody forever!” Gavin complained, turning to face the oldest. “What the hell were you doing back there?”

“I’ll bet there was someone sucking his dick,” Michael laughed as he climbed down.

“Or maybe he was getting banged in the ass!”

Ray shook his head at the other two, but laughed regardless. Ryan just rolled his eyes and held out his hand.

“Check out what I found,” he said.

Ray’s eyes widened a bit, and after a poke from Gavin, he had his PokeDex out and was reading the entry.

_Magnemite, the Magnet Pokémon. Feeding on electricity, it uses its sides to make electromagnetic waves that enable it to fly._

“A Magnemite?” Michael asked. “ _Here_? That shouldn’t be right…”

“That’s what I thought when I saw it,” Ryan explained. “I think it must have gotten separated from its pack or something.”

Gavin raised an eyebrow. “Where are they usually supposed to be?”

“In caves and shit. I think you’re right, Ryan; I can’t think of any other reason for it to be all the way out here.”

Ray and Gavin glanced at each other, shrugging and letting the other two discuss where it had come from before they decided to drop the subject.

The Pokémon Photographer saw this as a place to speak up. “So… What are we going to do with it?”

Michael walked up to it to inspect it, although it started orbiting around his head before he got the chance. “Well… Take it back, I guess.”

“Do we even know where the rest of its group is?” Ray asked. Ryan shook his head.

“No, but we’ll find it. If it wants us to help it out, that is,” he replied. The Magnemite pulled away from Michael and went up to Ryan, smiling and nodding vigorously. The Breeder laughed. “Which, I’ll take that as a yes.”

“Then let’s start looking!” Gavin exclaimed, turning and running in a seemingly random direction. Michael reached out and grabbed the collar of his shirt before he could get very far.

“Hold on, dumbass. We can’t just start looking around anywhere,” he lectured. “We have to start at the places they’d most likely be, and then work our way down from there.”

“So, like… A cave?” Ray said quietly.

“Right,” Michael replied.

“Where are we going to find a cave around here? All we’ve got are bloody trees and bushes!”

Ryan rolled his eyes. “That’s why we look around, Gavin. Surely, if we look around for long enough, we’ll find something.”

“And fortunately for you guys, I decently know my way around this forest,” Michael informed, “Since I did have so long to look around for that Ursaring. I’ve got a few places in mind where we can look.”

“Great! Then let’s go!” Michael rolled his eyes and started to lead the group to the nearest cave he could think of.

Before long, a small cliffside came into view, and Magnemite went rushing over, crying out in joy at the wall. Gavin laughed and raised an eyebrow.

“What the hell is it doing?”

Michael was up and pressing his hands against the wall in no time. “There must be something on the other side,” he explained. “Magnemite would be able to sense where the rest of its group is, so maybe it’s right here. Am I right, Magnemite?”

The Pokémon nodded, and the Ranger pulled out his capture stylus. He looked around for a moment before jogging towards a wild Larvitar.

“Capture, on!”

As the auburn haired continued his efforts, Ray pulled out his PokeDex and showed the entry to Gavin and Ryan.

_Larvitar, the Rock Skin Pokémon. This Pokémon eats as much soil as it can, then sleeps so it can grow._

“Capture, complete!”

Michael came back and pointed at the wall, looking at the Larvitar. “Use Chip Away on this area of the wall, okay?”

The Pokémon nodded and set to work while the Ranger and his Growlithe watched and encouraged. Before long, there was a hole in the cliff just large enough for the Magnemite to slip through, and the Larvitar tiredly turned to Michael.

“Thanks, Larvitar,” he said, releasing it as Gavin began to climb through. Once it was gone, and Gavin was struggling, he sighed. “Gavin, take your backpack off before going through.”

“Oh! Right.”

He shook his head, waiting for the other three to wriggle their way in, and once Growlithe had jumped in, he attempted to climb through himself, getting caught at the hips. He quickly tried to push through before the others noticed, but Gavin turned and saw, immediately starting to laugh.

“Are you…?”

He growled. “Just shut up and give me a hand.”

Through his laughs, the slightly younger grabbed him by the hand and yanked him out with a decent amount of effort. The Ranger landed on the ground with a _thud_ and a groan, which caused the other two to look over. Gavin nearly doubled over, shaking from laughter.

“I cannot believe that just happened!”

With a red face, Michael stood up and dusted the dirt off of his red jacket. “I got an ass of glory, alright? Can’t always get away with it, you know,” he joked, attempting to brush it off like it was nothing.

Gavin opened his mouth to retort, but Ryan bumped his shoulder and pointed to Magnemite.

“Let’s get back to the task on hand, shall we?”

The Photographer laughed a little longer before nodding. They began to wander into the system of caves, with Magnemite leading the way through the darkness. Gavin, not paying attention, walked directly into a wall at one point. He yelped, and Michael started laughing hysterically.

“We really need some light in here,” he grumbled.

Ray shrugged. “I don’t think we’ve got anything to set on fire, do we?”

Ryan perked up, suddenly remembering one of their Pokémon. “Ray, doesn’t Cyndaquil have fire on its back?”

The Trainer was quiet for a moment. “Yeah,” he deadpanned. “Yeah, I’m fucking stupid.”

He quickly brought it out, and a bunch of Zubat suddenly came swarming at them. Screams echoed through the cave; soon, the four were re-immersed in darkness.

“Well, that was a bloody damn good idea, wasn’t it, Ryan?” Gavin snapped.

The Breeder glared at him. “I’m not the one to need it though, am I?” he retorted. “I can at least see well enough to not walk into a fucking wall!”

“Uh, guys?”

“Not now, Ray,” Gavin hissed. “We’re in a damn cave, you mingy little prick! What made you think there wouldn’t be any Zubat in here?!”

“‘Mingy little prick’? The fuck does that even mean?”

“That’s not the point of my damn statement!” Gavin yelled.

“You’re the one who suggested the light in the first place, anyway!” Ryan pointed out.

Ray watched as Magnemite stalked down the system, ignoring the argument between the two. After a nervous glance at the three, he started to chase after it quietly. They turned a couple of corners, and then they were soon out of sight from the others.

 

* * *

 

 

“You’re so Mew damn _stupid_!” Ryan shouted. “Why would you think that?!”

Gavin took in the breath to yell back, but he was cut off by Michael’s urgent voice.

“Where did Ray go?!”

The two froze before looking around. “Oh, shit,” Ryan whispered.

“Magnemite’s gone, too!” Gavin pointed out.

Michael started jogging down the length of the system, looking down each different path as he went. “This is _not_ good,” he said. “If Ray’s gone, then he probably went with Magnemite… And if he’s alone with it, depending on how long ago they left, they could already be at the group!”

“That’s good, though, isn’t it?” Gavin asked, the worry in his gut increasing when he heard the panicked tone Michael was in possession of. “Magnemite’ll be back with its crew, right? That’s what we wanted.”

“Sometimes, Magnemite and Magneton don’t like humans,” Michael explained. “Especially if they think that they took one of their pack. If Ray’s the only one there, chances are, if they dislike him, they could seriously hurt him, or even kill him.”

The Photographer felt his heart skip a beat; images of how the Pokémon could do that flashed through his mind, and he was forced to imagine Ray being electrocuted, or strangled, or crushed, beaten to death, ripped apart, falling... He swallowed and looked at the other two.

“We’ve got to find him!”

“No shit, Gavin!” Ryan exclaimed. “We need to get moving, now!”

 

* * *

 

 

It got dark enough deeper in the cave that Ray had place his hand against the wall in order to guide himself. He squinted to see enough to keep an eye on Magnemite; he nearly blinded himself when he turned the corner and walked directly into the sunlight.

Once he’d blinked the initial dots out of his vision, he looked around.

He wasn’t out of the cave yet, but more of in a ravine of sorts. There was plant life growing a little on the walls; some smaller Pokémon were running around and playing, while the older ones were off to the side and watching or sleeping. Magnemite cried in joy and flew off into a darker portion of the ravine. Ray took his time in getting over to the area. He was looking around, taking in the scenery. On the vines were small, budding flowers that the Trainer went over and inspected by gently lifting them into his hands. Each one was a different kind, he realized; some were lilies, others violets, and some hydrangeas. He was looking at a rose bud when it broke off in his hand, and hastily he tried to replace it. Once he realized there was no chance, he subtly slipped it into his pocket and continued his short trek.

The light beaming down from outside cast a soft glow on the room. Ray knew that this would be the kind of thing Gavin would marvel in, and he felt a pang of guilt over leaving them behind. Shaking himself out of it, he stared at the shadows and walked.

It took him a few minutes before he found where Magnemite had gone off to; his eyes widened a little at the sight of so many Steel type Pokémon gathered in such a small area. He saw Steelix and Skarmory, Beldum and Bronzong, and bunches of Magnemite and Magneton. He almost pulled out his PokeDex before he realized just how long it would take to scan them all.

Magnemite turned and saw him, and it gave him a joyous look. He returned it with a smile, which quickly faded when he saw the looks on the other Pokémon’s faces as they approached him. He swallowed and shut his eyes.

 

* * *

 

 

“Ray!”

Michael sighed and pushed the heel of his hands into his eyes. “Gavin, stop yelling for him. We’ll find him.”

The Photographer whirled around and pointed a finger at him. “Well, this’ll help! The sound waves will carry down the paths, and maybe he’ll hear us and yell back! We can follow his voice!”

“What if the Magneton have already got him?” he snapped back. “He can’t exactly respond if he’s unconscious, or worse, can he?”

“We can always hope for the best, can’t we?”

“We can’t always assume that things are going to be pretty! It’s not like when we find him, the Pokémon are gonna be having a fucking love fest on him for saving a member of their pack!”

“That’s _enough_!”

The two jumped and went silent, looking at Ryan, who had his back turned to them. Calmly, he turned and gave them the sternest look he could muster.

“Look, fighting is was got us into this shit in the first place, remember? I don’t want it to be the same reasoning for not finding Ray. So both of you, shut the hell up, and just keep looking for him, okay?”

He turned back around and continued walking down the path, searching for any sign of the youngest while singing some undeterminable lyrics angrily and nearly silent. The younger two glanced at each other in apology and went back to the task at hand.

Michael paused in his search to consider how this had happened in the first place. He knew the majority of it was, in fact, his fault; if he hadn’t have dragged them along with him, or even stayed with them in general, they would still be with Ray and his chances of death wouldn’t be so high. Now, granted, this also wouldn’t be happening if Ryan and Gavin had just not gotten into an argument in the first place, but he knew he should’ve at least been paying enough attention to notice Ray leaving.

Growlithe could sense its partner’s worry, and it rubbed against his leg; he smiled softly and reached down to rub its head.

A yelp from Gavin tore through the cave, and in the split second it took him to turn and see, the Pokémon Ranger had a sudden fear that maybe Ray hadn’t have left calmly at all, and that there was some sort of killer Pokémon that had picked him off and was now back for the rest. Thankfully, however, he saw Gavin leaning against the wall, catching his breath and laughing, while the Magnemite from before hovered near him. Michael and Ryan shared a glance before running over.

“Magnemite? Where’s Ray?” Ryan asked urgently.

It cried out calmly and started floating off in a certain direction; the others looked at each other in worry before following it quickly.

 

* * *

 

 

Ray could honestly say that he’d never felt anything quite like this before. Every inch of his body felt like its hair was on end due to the electric pulses coming off of all of the Magnemite and Magneton, and he was shaking almost as if he was mid anxiety attack. His limbs were burning and his throat aching; he felt like he could vomit at any given moment. From where he was laying on the ground, he could squint and see his glasses and bag strewn off out of reach.

“Ray!”

He craned his head back to see the others running towards him; he smiled, swallowed, and shut his eyes.

“Hey, guys.”

Gavin, once he saw the position that the Trainer was in, felt relief course through his body before laughter replaced it. He had to turn around and walk away for a moment, while Ryan and Michael just covered their mouths and giggled quietly.

Ray was on his back, arms pinned to the ground by the Magnemite and Magneton crowding on top of him. The only visible portion of him at the moment was his head, which sported a large grin that was cast towards them with his laughter still ringing through it; the rest of him was covered by the joyful Magnet Pokémon. Michael’s Growlithe ran over to inspect them, which caused them all to screech and scatter away.

Ray lay there for a moment, catching his breath from his laughter. He stared at the soft glow that was coming from the outside when a shadow was cast over him.

“You might need these,” Ryan laughed as he handed the youngest his glasses. He offered him a hand after they were placed on his face, which Ray gratefully took and stood using. Michael handed him his bag, and he thanked them both before turning to the Pokémon.

“Thanks for that little love fest you guys gave me,” he joked softly. “Really appreciated it.”

The original Magnemite came up to him, orbiting around his head with a happy look and rubbing against his hair moments later, causing it to stand up on end once it went back to its group.

“What the hell was that about?” Gavin asked as he returned.

“They were really thankful about Magnemite coming back, I guess,” Ray explained, “And I think that because I was there when it came back, they thought I had come to return it, so I guess that was their way of thanking me.”

Gavin jabbed Michael in the side with his elbow. “So they _were_ havin’ a little love fest on him!”

Ray raised an eyebrow. “I literally just said that…”

Michael quickly threw Gavin into a headlock and rubbed his head roughly, causing the slightly younger to screech and make various Gavin noises. “Alright, dumbass, let’s just get out of here. I fucking hate caves anyway.”

“Oh so _that’s_ how you go, eh, Mi-cool? You hate all caves? Even little love ones?”

“Gross,” Michael said, shoving the other out of his grasp. “Shouldn’t you be taking pictures or something?”

Gavin gasped in realization and set to work, his ignoring of the other beginning in seconds.

Rolling his eyes, Ryan took Ray gently by the arm and pulled him out of ear shot from the others. “So… You’re okay, right?”

Ray nodded with a timid smile on his face. “Yeah, I’m fine!”

The Pokémon Breeder sighed in relief and nodded. “Okay. Okay, good. You had us seriously worried, you know?”

The smile evaporated off of the Trainer’s face. “I-I did?”

He nodded again, humming to say yes. “We honestly didn’t realize you were gone for a few minutes, but when Michael noticed you weren’t anywhere in sight, I seriously thought Gavin was going to pass out, he was so pale. Plus they got into an argument about what could happen to you.”

Ray swallowed; he could feel himself beginning to shake. “O-Oh.”

“But anyway,” he continued, “I’m glad you’re alright. I think we all are. Just… Don’t do it again, okay?”

The youngest nodded. “Okay.”

“Why’d you leave, anyway?” he asked casually.

Ray shifted nervously. “It was because I saw Magnemite leaving,” he explained, “A-And I tried to get your guys’ attention, but you were so focused on the argument that no one would listen, and I didn’t want it to leave so that we lost it, so I followed it. I’m sorry…”

Ryan sighed softly and placed an arm around Ray’s shoulder, not noticing how quickly they tensed. “Nah, it’s alright. I’m not angry. I’m just relieved you’re okay.”

He led the two back to the others, and after Gavin had his fill of photos and they’d said their goodbyes to the Steel Type Pokémon, they headed out of the cave and onward as their journey continued.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PokeDex Entires from here: http://www.amazon.com/Pokemon-Essential-Handbook-Scholastic/dp/0545427711
> 
> Ryan's song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FlMBcTGJ4YM (But only until the "Elphie... Listen to me..."
> 
> Thanks for reading! Updates are probably going to come later in the day, now, since 2-Hour delays are probably out of the question ^^;


	9. Return of Team Freelancer! Enter Jack!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The group finally makes it to Salubrity Town- unfortunately, on the same day that Team Freelancer decides to pop in for a visit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beacon Region Map: http://sweetiecurfyart.tumblr.com/post/111232399174/here-it-is-a-map-of-the-beacon-region-used#notes  
> Art will be posted here: sweetiecurfyart.tumblr.com

The sun was thankfully not too warm that day; the group was casually walking down the path towards Entity City, with the jokes frequent and the laughter loud. Ray, for once, was at the front most of them, and it was in a quiet moment when he gasped quietly and started running. Curious, the others gave each other a confused look and ran after him, each’s eyes widening when they saw a small town just over the hill.

“That’s Entity?” Gavin asked skeptically. “That can’t be right. We’ve only been going for a few days… Plus that’s so small! How could it be the movie capital of Beacon?”

“It’s not, dumbass,” Michael laughed, “That’s Salubrity Town. This is where a lot of the Pokémon Doctors come from.”

“Oh.”

Ryan readjusted his backpack and looked at the others. “Well, let’s get a move on then! We’re so close that I bet we’ll make it by nightfall, if we’re quick enough!”

The rest nodded, and they hurried off down the path.

 

* * *

 

 

“Is everything set?”

“ _We’re good on the east side.”_

_“North’s set.”_

_“Affirmative on South.”_

_“West is ready.”_

The woman smiled into the radio. “Good. We’ll begin at 17:23 sharp.”

“ _Check.”_

_“Got it.”_

_“Understood.”_

_“Alright.”_

“Over and out.”

 

* * *

 

 

Gavin was absolutely having a field day when they made it to Salubrity Town. The Photographer was thriving in all of the old houses and buildings; the Pokémon Doctor school was absolutely his favorite part, considering how long he made them stay, which is where they were now.

“Vav, come on, we’ve been here for like ten minutes,” Ray groaned. “Don’t you have like a million pictures by now?”

The Gubbin native brought his camera down to look at the Nucom Village native. “Just a few more!” He was quickly back to snapping away, explaining everything that was great about this place.

“I mean, look at the lighting! It’s so damn perfect! The shadows are on the door, which is kind of giving it a mysterious feel, but like, the sunset is making it look so calm and soft… And like, the architecture of this place is _astounding_! The windows are showing that it was built at least a couple of hundreds of years ago, but it’s like four stories tall, which in that time period was pretty damn impressive! This must’ve been the highlight of this town back then!”

“And it still is,” Ryan added. “Like I said, this is where all of the Pokémon Doctors study. Salubrity Town takes a lot of pride in the doctors it sends out into the world, especially if they go off to work in other regions, like Kanto or Sinnoh.”

Gavin hummed and continued to snap photos; Michael, who had had his back turned to them this entire time, looked at Ryan and pointed at a couple of passing girls.

“Is that why there are so many Nurse Joys here?” he asked. “I’ve seen, like, fucking thirty of them.”

The Pokémon Breeder nodded. “Yeah, Beacon’s known for its medical schools, so it draws a lot of people studying things like that, which would include most Nurse Joys.”

“Huh.”

Michael went back to the boredom induced people watching just as Gavin was putting his camera away.

“Alright, I won’t keep you plebs here any longer,” he said. “We’re heading to the Pokémon Center, right?”

“How about we go out for some food, first?” Ryan suggested. “We haven’t eaten anything since this morning, you know.”

The others nodded, and they were soon on their way to finding a restaurant. They argued a little over where to eat, but eventually they settled on a small place a short walk away from where they were now.

They were about ten feet away when they all heard and flinched at a huge explosion behind them.

“Holy _shit_!”

“What the fuck?!”

“Mew damn it!”

“Fucking Arceus!”

Michael and Growlithe were the first ones to bolt towards the sound, much to the reluctance of the other three who quickly followed. They all slammed into each other when the Pokémon Ranger stopped dead in his tracks at the corner.

On the street was a chaotic mess of panicking people and attacking Pokémon. Various breeds, such as Cubone, Golbat, or Gastly, were chasing assumed innocents, while one man stood on a flying Salamance above it all. Gavin and Ray looked at each other, both tensing as they recognized the uniform he was wearing. They quickly broke gaze, however, when a Hyper Beam attack landing just in between them. Gavin screamed and fell; Ray gasped and accidentally slammed into Ryan.

“Sorry!” he yelled over the commotion.

Michael was off as quickly as he had stopped; he was commanding Growlithe to use various attacks on the other Pokémon and helping people away as quickly as he could. Gavin felt his stomach drop when he saw the man on the Salamance go to the ground and climb off, pulling out a radio.

“South side here. I’ve got a kid trying to stop it. Taking care of him ASAP.” He put it away and held his hand towards where Michael was.

“Hyper Beam.”

As the attack powered up, Gavin moved, and he moved as fast as he could. He sent out Midnight, commanding it to use Shadow Ball just as the Salamance shot its attack. The dark matter hit it just in time to knock its aim off, and it just missed Michael. However, it hit the ground close enough that when he began to run, he was tripped by the force of the attack.

Gavin went running over, ignoring Ray and Ryan calling him back. They watched nervously as Michael attempted to stand; he collapsed as soon as he put weight on his left leg. Gavin sent the two a worried glance just before he caught that the Salamance was powering up another attack. He quickly grabbed Michael under his arms and yanked him out of the way just as it hit, and he helped him limp over to an alley for shelter. The other two looked at each other before taking a deep breath each and running over.

Once they were in the alley, Ryan was kneeling in front of Michael as soon as he could. “What happened? What did you hurt?”

He had an eye shut in pain, and his skin was covered in cuts and scrapes; quietly, he responded, “My knee. I don’t know how bad it is.”

He tried to get up, but Gavin and Ryan each grabbed a shoulder and held him down.

“No way, boi! Where do you think you’re going?” Gavin said.

“The guy’s not going to fucking stop attacking just because we’re out!” Michael snapped. “I have to go finish the job! I’m a Ranger!”

Ray looked at him. “I’ll go do it,” he stated.

“Ray, no. You can’t even win a battle against Gavin. You are going to get _crushed_ if you try that,” Michael pointed out.

The Trainer shook his head. “I can still try,” he said firmly. “I’m going to do this.”

Before anyone could protest, he sent out Cyndaquil and Budew and ran out of the alley, ignoring the injured’s worried screams.

The moment they got out, he regretted the decision. His head began to swim with anxiety, and his chest began to burn. His mind went blank; the shaking in his limbs began almost instantly. He swallowed, beginning to rethink the decision.

“Ray, get back here!” he heard Michael scream.

He took a deep breath.

He had to do this.

Shakily, he held out his right hand. “Cyndaquil, Ember!”

The Fire Mouse Pokémon shot the small flames out of its mouth, hitting the Salamance on its side. It glanced over, but otherwise disregarded the action. The man near it looked at Ray and laughed.

“You honestly think that’s going to do anything?”

“I-I…”

He laughed again. “Pathetic. Why don’t you just go back home to your mother, kid?” He pointed at them. “Dragonbreath!”

Sucking a breath in quickly, Ray reached down and scooped his Pokémon into his arms before turning around to take the hit…

That never came.

He felt himself getting picked up by strong arms and thrown over an unfamiliar shoulder, with the person being careful to regard the Pokémon. He opened his eyes just in time to see his glasses falling towards the ground; Cyndaquil reacted quickly and grabbed them in its mouth right before they were out of reach.

The next thing he knew, he was being pulled off of the shoulder and was standing in front of Ryan, Gavin, Michael, and Growlithe. Gavin was quick to envelope Ray in a relieved hug, Ryan stood up and smiled thankfully at the youngest, while Michael slowly stood, leaning against Ryan and the wall, giving Ray a look that somewhat terrified him.

“You fucking moron!” he yelled. “You would be fucking dead right now if it hadn’t have been for this guy! Why are you so dumb to think that you could take on a _fucking Salamance_ when you haven’t won a single battle yet?!”

Gavin pulled away to glare at Michael, but Ray cut in before he could argue. “I’ve won one…”

“Oh really? Where?” the Ranger snapped.

The Trainer swallowed and looked at the ground. “O-On my first day as a trainer… I beat an entire flock of Taillow…”

“Fucking beginner’s luck!” He took a step towards the younger, nearly falling to the ground when his knee gave out. Ryan and the man who had saved Ray caught him before he hit the pavement.

“You probably shouldn’t put any weight on that,” the man said. “Your knee looks pretty fucking hurt.”

“Well, no shit, jackass!”

“Michael,” Ryan sternly said. The slightly younger sighed and apologized reluctantly.

“Here,” the man began, “Why don’t you guys come to my place for a little while while this all blows over? We’ll be safe, plus I can take a look at your knee.”

There was another explosion behind them; Gavin and Ray were the only two to flinch at it.

“Well, if we’re going to go, then let’s bloody hurry!” Gavin exclaimed.

The others nodded, and Ryan helped Michael climb onto the man’s back before they hurried off.

 

* * *

 

 

It wasn’t too terribly long before Michael found himself being carefully lowered onto the couch at the man’s house. He winced when he had to bend the knee a little in order to sit, but he ignored it and watched the man scurry upstairs to get some supplies. A woman was stood in the doorway, carrying a small conversation with Ryan as if there wasn’t a huge mess going on just a few blocks away. Gavin sat next to Michael, wrapping an arm around his shoulders and saying something about feeling awful about what happened, while Ray stood in the corner, shifting awkwardly as if he had no idea what to do with himself. Growlithe hopped into Michael’s lap; he instinctively started to rub its head.

The man was back downstairs soon, and he quietly went over to Michael’s front, gently taking his leg. “It’s alright that I take a look at this, right?”

Michael nodded, flinching when he started to lift his leg, inevitably moving his knee in the process. Gavin, not unlike himself, couldn’t keep quiet for too long.

“So… What’s your name, by the way?”

Michael rolled his eyes. “Gav, don’t distract him.”

“No, it’s fine,” the man said. “I can multitask. My name’s Jack Pattillo, and over there’s Caiti, my girlfriend. What about you guys?”

“Well, that’s Ryan over there,” Gavin said, pointing to the older. “He’s a Pokémon Breeder. I’m Gavin, a Pokémon Photographer!”

“Michael. Pokémon Ranger.” His words were strained through the pain in the moving of his knee.

“Oh, and that’s Ray,” Gavin concluded, pointing at the younger. His head shot up at the sound of his name. “He’s a Pokémon Trainer.” The Gubbin native leaned in a little towards Jack. “He’s really shy around new people,” he whispered. “It took a bloody long time to get him talking to Michael here.”

“It only took a couple of days,” Michael pointed out. “C’mon, Gav, give him a little credit.”

“That’s a long time!”

The Ranger sighed and leaned back. “You’re fucking hopeless.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

Ryan’s voice cut in then. “Are you guys seriously already fighting? We haven’t even been in town for two hours!”

The two fell silent, each one deflating a little and looking away. Ray shifted and kneeled next to Jack.

“Is everything okay with his knee?”

Gavin mumbled something that caused Michael to hit his arm quietly; Jack ignored this and looked at the Trainer.

“I think so. It looks like it’s just twisted. As long as he stays off of it for a couple of days, it probably won’t turn into a sprain.”

Ray smiled. “And that’s good, right?”

Jack nodded. “That’s absolutely good. It’s always something to hope for. Those can sometimes turn out worse than breaks, you know.”

“How can a sprain be worse than a broken bone?” Gavin broke in. “Aren’t those, like, the worst thing to get?”

“No, not at all,” Jack responded. “I can think of all kinds of things worse than broken bones. Like, with sprains, if it doesn’t heal correctly, it can require all kinds of surgery just to set it straight again, and if you don’t get that done, the bone can grind itself…”

He cut himself off when Gavin gagged. “Alright, alright, stop, stop, stop!”

“Sorry,” he laughed. “Didn’t realize you were that squeamish.”

Gavin leaned back and took a deep breath, ignoring Michael’s laughter and putting a hand to his mouth.

“Mew damn…”

Jack reached over and grabbed some ace bandages; Gavin noticed Michael freeze for a split second. The bearded started wrapping the injured’s leg gently yet firmly, while Ryan came back over and sat on a chair nearby. Ray watched Jack’s work interestedly.

“So… Are you a Pokémon Doctor, then?” he asked quietly.

“Not… exactly,” the older responded. “I’ve got the knowledge and stuff right now, and I could go on to get a license, but I’d have to go to school for another five years and re-learn everything I already know to get that silence.”

“Well, why haven’t you, then?” Gavin questioned. Jack glanced at him before turning back to the bandages.

“There’s not a school for it here in Salubrity,” he said.

“So you want to stay close to home then?” Ryan added. “I think there’s a school for it in Entity City, though. That’s not too far, is it?”

“It’d only be for five years anyway,” Gavin chimed in, “And it’d be easy since you already know it all!”

Jack sighed. “Well… The one in Entity isn’t a good school, so I wouldn’t want to go there anyway,” he explained, “And I would be willing to go to one away from here of course, but my parents aren’t exactly willing to let me go…”

The others were silent for a moment, and Jack could practically feel the judgment radiating off of the majority of them. He groaned internally, waiting for the inevitable follow up conversation.

“Your… Your parents,” Gavin said stoically.

He nodded. “They’re a little… overprotective, I guess you could say.”

Michael raised an eyebrow. “But you’re an adult.”

“That doesn’t mean I don’t care about my parents’ opinions,” he quickly replied. “I still like to let them have a say in what I do and whatnot.”

“But if you want to do something, even if they don’t agree, don’t you think you can still do it?” Michael continued. “I mean, just because they say no doesn’t automatically mean that you can never even think about doing it. It’s your life, not theirs, you know.”

Jack remained silent. Caiti sighed and reached for the TV remote.

“So, Ryan was telling me about what was going on,” she said. “They’ve got to have something about it on the news, right?”

Gavin nodded. “It’d be pretty damn stupid if they didn’t!”

After gaining permission from the others, the brunette turned it on and flipped to the station in mind. Sure enough, there was a reporter on the scene.

“…innocent people all over town, most notably in the furthermost points of town and in Central Square. So far, 26 people have been injured, with seven in life threatening conditions. All were due to attacks from the Pokémon belonging to a group who call themselves Team Freelancer.”

Gavin and Ray both gasped and snapped their necks towards each other.

“Th-That was…” Ray trailed off, the nerves cutting his voice off.

“Those people who attacked us on Route 17,” Gavin concluded. “Team Freelancer.”

Ryan looked at Ray. “Didn’t you say those were the guys who gave you that Sableye wound?”

The Trainer nodded; they turned their attention back to the screen.

“We have received reports that this Team Freelancer is attacking due to the lack of deals they have been making in this town. They are going after anyone and everyone who tries to cross their path. Please, we advise everyone to stay indoors. There are authorities on their way to take them down.”

Gavin felt the couch shifting, and he turned to see Michael starting to get up. Quickly, he grabbed his shoulder and held him in place.

“Boi, no,” he said. “Don’t even think about it.”

“I gotta fucking help them, Gavin,” he grumbled. “It’s my _job_. I have to.”

Gavin pulled him back so he was almost leaning against the Gubbin City native. “Well, I’m putting you on medical release until your knee is better,” he responded.

Michael rolled his eyes. “That’s not how it works, idiot.” Regardless, he relaxed and didn’t try to further force himself to go help.

Jack finished wrapping Michael’s leg and turned to Ray. “What was Ryan saying about a Sableye wound?”

The youngest swallowed and glanced at the oldest before turning back to the bearded. “I- uh, when Gavin and I first met, a day later we were attacked by Team Freelancer, and the woman forced me to battle, but I lost and then she had her Sableye use Scratch on me, and I got a couple of really deep wounds on my arm…” He quickly held it out. “But see? It’s better now, so there’s nothing to worry about!”

Jack raised an eyebrow at the Trainer’s nerves and took the arm in his hand before he could pull it away, leaning in to look at it. The wounds by now were almost completely gone; all that was really left were traces of scabs and just a bit of red skin surrounding those. The Pokémon Doctor hummed in approval and leaned back.

“Well, it looks okay,” he stated, “And it doesn’t look like there will be too terrible of a scar on any of those. So that’s good, I suppose. Did you get a Nurse Joy to look at it at any Pokémon Centers on your way over?”

“No, just Gavin and Ryan.”

Jack looked from Gavin, who simply shrugged, to Ryan, who sighed and stood, making his way over to the others.

“I said the same thing,” he said, “That it probably wouldn’t leave any lasting marks.”

Michael sat up straighter and looked at the bearded. “So, how long is it going to be before I can put weight on it?”

Jack stood up and pulled his glasses off before rubbing his face and replacing them. “I’d give it two days, just to be safe. That’s not too long, but it’ll give it enough time to heal properly.”

The Ranger sighed and leaned back; Gavin smiled sympathetically and looked at Ryan.

“So then, we’re stuck in town for a few days, then.”

Ryan nodded. “Yeah, until Michael’s okay to go.”

The Photographer grinned and leaped up, rushing towards the door.

“Think of all of the photos I’m going to be able to get! That’s a few days to get all the pictures I can- and I think I’m going to start now!”

He was almost out when Ray scurried over and grabbed his sleeve.

“Vav, the news report said to stay inside until the thing with Team Freelancer is over,” he reminded softly. “I don’t think it’s a good idea to disregard that…”

Gavin sighed and turned towards the youngest. “Right, forgot about that.”

“Oh, that’s right,” Ryan mumbled, looking up in thought. “If we’re supposed to stay indoors, we can’t get to the Pokémon Center for a while…”

“Well, then, it looks like you’re staying with us,” Caiti pointed out with a smile. “We’ve got a couple of guest rooms, if you’d like.”

Jack nodded in agreement. “Yeah, it wouldn’t be a problem. You’re welcome to stay as long as you need to.”

Ryan thankfully beamed at the two. “That would be great. Thank you!”

 

* * *

 

 

Hours later, after arrangements had been made and everyone else had gone off to bed, Ray and Ryan were sat in their room upstairs and discussing the situation between the two downstairs.

“So… Michael’s definitely taking the bed, right?” Ryan laughed. Ray pictured the Ranger shoving the Photographer to the floor and snorted.

“Thank Arceus there’s two beds in this room,” he responded. “I seriously hope that Gavin will be okay, though. I don’t really want Michael to kill him.”

The Pokémon Breeder pulled his vest off and lay down. “I’m sure he’ll be alright. He might be dumb, but I doubt he’s dumb enough for Michael to pull something like that.”

Ray pulled off his sleeveless sweatshirt and did the same, placing his glasses on the night stand between them. “I hope so.”

Quietly, Ryan sat up and looked at the younger. “You ready?” After receiving a nod, he got up to shut the lights off, then did as Ray was doing and climbed under the blankets.

“Night, Ryan,” he heard Ray whisper.

“Night, Ray. See you in the morning.”

He had expected to fall asleep rather quickly, but the sound of the other’s movement kept his mind from settling. He kept glancing over to see the Trainer tossing and turning; eventually, Ryan sighed and turned onto his side so that he was facing the wall.

“A matchbox of our own,” he sang softly, “A fence of real chain link; a grill out on the patio, disposal in the sink…”

The lyrics kept going as he heard the shuffling less and less, and soon there was no other sound coming from the other, aside from some soft snores. With a satisfied, tired smile, Ryan shut his eyes, letting himself also get some rest before the sun returned to its place in the sky and determined that their journey was to continue.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the read!
> 
> Ryan's song this chapter: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n9bpRFFpDoc


	10. Jack's Defiance! Please Just Let Me Go!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The guys try to convince Jack to come along with them, and Jack tries to convince his parents to let him go.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beacon Region Map: http://sweetiecurfyart.tumblr.com/post/111232399174/here-it-is-a-map-of-the-beacon-region-used#notes
> 
> My art will be posted: sweetiecurfyart.tumblr.com

_“Sableye, go!”_

_The Trainer froze. If she was taking out a Pokémon, that could only mean…_

_“Use Scratch on the kid.”_

_His head snapped up, and he snatched Cyndaquil into his arms and turned, feeling the Ghost Pokémon’s claws rip into his upper arm. He let out a scream before he felt a pair of arms pulling him up and away._

A yelp ripped out of Rays’ throat as his eyes shot open. He sat up, momentarily forgetting where he was until the events from the previous day rushed back into his mind. He swallowed as he remembered the bed he was laying in; his eyes darted to the sunlight streaming through the window, indicating that he probably should be up by now. With a sigh, he shakily put his glasses on and got out of bed.

It wasn’t a surprise to find out that he was the last one up, but he was mildly shocked to see that Michael was the only one currently in the house. The Ranger was sipping from a mug of what Ray could only assume was coffee, and he looked up from the newspaper in front of him when he saw the Trainer stepping into the kitchen.

“Morning, Sleeping Beauty.”

Ray felt his face flushing. “Morning,” he replied quietly. “Where are the others?”

“What, am I not good enough?” Michael joked.

“N-No, that’s not what I’m saying!” Ray replied quickly. “I-I’m just…”

“It’s cool, I get it,” the auburn haired interrupted. “Calm down! You’re fine. Gavin went off to take some pictures, Ryan went with him to make sure he didn’t kill himself, Jack’s off talking to his parents, and Caiti’s right outside. I think she’s gardening. Growlithe’s helping her.”

“Oh. Okay.”

There was silence in the room for a minute; Michael had turned back to his paper, while Ray remained standing and anxiously shifting, still unsure of what to do. The older eventually looked up using only his eyes and raised his eyebrows.

“You know you can sit if you want, right?” he asked, gesturing to the chair across from him. “It’s not like it’s a fucking crime.”

“O-Oh! Right,” Ray stuttered. He quickly did as Michael had suggested, forcing himself to breathe through his quickly tensing muscles.

“Mew damn, dude, you look like I’m going to murder you or something,” the other laughed. “Relax, man. No one here’s going to hurt you. You know that, right?”

Ray swallowed and nodded as he looked down; he held his breath until the prickling in his eyes went away. Michael, figuring there was nothing else he could do to get Ray to chill, rolled his eyes and went back to the paper.

A few minutes later, the front door banged open, and a fuming, drenched Ryan came in, followed by a desperate Gavin. The two in the kitchen made eye contact before listening to their conversation.

“Ryan, I’m sorry!”

“Fucking hell, Gavin, just forget about it.”

“But Ry-!”

The older whirled around and pointed a finger at him. “Just. Fucking. _Drop it._ ”

Michael sardonically smirked at the two. “Damn, Ryan, did you have some vinegar in your coffee this morning?”

The older glared at the Ranger and stormed into the kitchen, taking a seat next to Ray and crossing his arms. “No, Gavin’s just a fucking moron.”

Gavin made a noise of offense and followed him, sitting across from the angry and next to Michael. “I already told you-”

Ryan immediately cut him off. “I said, drop it!”

Ray shifted in his seat nervously before looking at the oldest. “What… What even happened?”

“So there’s a fountain in Central Square, okay?” Ryan began. “And yesterday, when Team Freelancer was attacking, they hit the fountain and left a long crack in the pavement near it. One of the things in that crack is a water pipe, so there’s water fucking _everywhere_ , and naturally, Gavin wanted to get a fucking picture of it.”

“Why wouldn’t I have?” Gavin cut in. “There was water spraying out of part of it, and that made a weird lighting effect! It was bloody awesome!”

“Shut up and let him talk,” Michael ordered, grabbing the younger’s face and pushing it to the side a bit.

Ryan rolled his eyes and continued. “Right, so anyway, that idiot was getting really close to the edge of the crack, and I was going over there, too, you know, just to make sure he didn’t fall in. Then the bastard ran into me and I fell directly in the deepest part of the crack.”

“I didn’t ‘run into you’, you pleb. I slipped!”

“Like it makes a fucking difference!”

Just then, the back door opened, and Caiti walked in, brushing the dirt from her gloves with a questioning smile.

“Sounds hostile in here,” she pointed out.

Ryan took a deep breath and leaned back, remaining silent. He looked at the table, shaking his head slowly and trying to calm himself down as Michael explained what was going on. Gavin was sending him and apologetic look, but he ignored it for the sake of the other three. The younger sighed and looked at the others.

“So, where’s Jack?”

 

* * *

 

 

Jack sat nervously on the couch as his father stood above him with a stern look on his face; his mother was sat in a chair nearby, watching the two anxiously. Jack’s father crossed his arms before speaking.

“You don’t even know these people.”

The younger swallowed and shook his head. “No, I don’t. But I can help them.”

His mother piped in. “How do you know that, though? We don’t know if it’s a common thing for them to be injured, do we?”

Jack sighed, figuring that this wouldn’t be going anywhere, and neither would he.

The truth about this whole ordeal was that he had been wanting to go on a Pokémon Journey for ages. Ever since he was a kid, he’d dreamed about traveling from town to town, finding Pokémon to save and help, and meeting as many people as he could while he was at it. It was the only thing that had kept him in school, and when his parents forced him to stay back at continue his studies towards being a doctor, those dreams kept him from going insane.

It wasn’t as if he didn’t have any Pokémon; his uncle had given him a Turtwig a few years ago, and he’d caught a Mareep when it was disowned from its pack from being too small. He loved and cared for each of them deeply, even though he knew he wouldn’t be able to do anything with them if this kept up.

He’d been looking for good reasons behind traveling for as long as he could remember. He’d be gaining experience, he could find injured Pokémon and help them, he could meet new doctors and talk to them about what they were doing, and now, traveling with these four so they didn’t kill themselves before they got to Entity City. He had been sure that this would be a good enough excuse for them to let him go, but as usual, they had a reasoning to keep him behind.

_You can get experience here_ , they’d always say. _The injured Pokémon might attack you. Doctors are coming here all the time. You don’t even know these people._

Every once in a while, they would pull the “don’t you love us anymore” card, which would always get Jack to drop the subject for a few months. His heart would break a little every time he heard the sorrowful words spill out of his mother’s mouth. However, ever since he had moved in with Caiti, it had been pulled more and more often. They’d say that not only did he not love them, but he also didn’t love Caiti, which Jack knew was absolutely a lie. He loved Caiti more than he loved anyone else in the world, and nothing was going to change that. She even said multiple times that if he wanted to go on a journey, she’d be backing him up the whole way.

She was actually the first and only person so far that was supportive of his idea of going on a journey, which is why as soon as they were alone the previous night, he had talked to her about it. She had been all for it, and it even seemed that she was more excited about it than he was. It was part of one of the endless reasons why he loved her; she always put his needs before her own. He tried to do the same for her as often as he could.

This morning, he’d talked it over with Ryan, and he was extremely for the idea. He kept saying how helpful it would be to have someone who actually knew how to take care of injuries, but Jack could tell by the tone of voice that the Breeder would also be grateful for someone who was mature enough to carry a conversation with without sparking a heated debate of some form. He knew he needed his parents’ permission, though, so he left to go talk to them, landing him in the situation he was in now- sitting on the couch in front of a stern looking father and a disappointed mother.

He stood up, nodding in understanding. “Okay. I get it.”

He walked to the door, opened it, and looked back. “Thanks for the conversation,” he said flatly. “I’ll see you soon. Love you.”

“We love you too, dear.”

Jack left, ignoring the words.

 

* * *

 

 

The moment the Pokémon Doctor walked in the door, Caiti knew what the answer had been.

She saw the forlorn look on his features, and the way he slowly shut the door and practically shuffled his feet were the immediate indicators. The next things were the dim look in his hazel eyes, followed by the sigh releasing itself from his lungs. As she walked from the sink to the kitchen doorway, she saw that the others had gone silent, seeing that there was something wrong with Jack. The man looked at Caiti and shook his head; her shoulders dropped, and she frowned.

“What was the reasoning behind it this time?” she asked carefully.

“Because we don’t technically know them,” he sighed, looking to the ground. He then brought his gaze up long enough to give Ryan a disappointed look. “Sorry, Ryan.” He walked toward the kitchen, not even bothering to take his outerwear off. “I’m going to go sit outside for a little while.”

As soon as he was gone, and Caiti had gone after him, the youngest three were on Ryan like a pack of extremely curious Mightyena.

“What was he on about?”

“Why did he apologize to you?”

“Is he okay…?”

The oldest hadn’t looked away from where the other man had disappeared; he blinked slowly before focusing on them.

“Well… This morning, he asked if it would be alright if he traveled with us,” he explained, “And I said it would be fine. He went to ask his parents if he could go, but… I assume, with the way he was acting, it was a hard no.”

Gavin frowned and crossed his arms, leaning back against the chair he was sitting on. “And Jack said it was because they don’t know us, didn’t he? Why is that even a problem anymore?”

“I can understand,” Michael said, “Especially after what happened yesterday. I mean, there’s no way to tell whether or not we’re a part of Team Freelancer.”

“Of course there is!” Gavin retorted. “We’re not wearing those black and white uniforms, are we?”

“That’s not exactly a great way to tell,” Ryan pointed out. “Clothes can be changed, you know.”

The Photographer sighed and looked at the floor. “We don’t look that dangerous, do we?” he muttered softly. Ray, from his spot on the couch, heard the words coming from the thin lips and frowned, knowing what he should do.

He got up, just as Caiti was walking back in, and looked at the others. “I’m going to go talk to him,” he stated. “I’ll be back.”

The young woman was stepping into the room as Ray was slipping past her and into the kitchen; he opened the door and snuck outside before she could say anything. When he turned around, he saw the older man sitting on a porch swing, elbow on the edge and chin in hand, staring at the sky. After a thick swallow, Ray forced himself to walk over and tentatively sit next to him. Jack gave him a glance before returning to his original position. They were quiet for a minute.

“Hi,” Ray said softly.

“Hey.”

There was another beat of silence.

“Are you okay?” the Trainer asked.

The older shrugged. “I guess.”

Ray waited a moment before responding. “Are you sure…?”

Jack sighed and shook his head. “No.”

“What’s- what- uh,” Ray cut himself off, not wanting to be intrusive, but also wanting to know what was eating at the Pokémon Doctor. Luckily, the other knew what he was trying to say, and he pulled his head off of his hand to respond.

“It’s just… My parents have always been really protective over me, right? They’re always trying to make sure that I’m healthy and relaxed and stuff, because they’re doctors, too, and they know the complications of everything and just can’t bear the thought of something like that happening to me,” he began. “Thing is, they just don’t know when to stop. I don’t think they realize that I can take care of myself. They pushed me into being a doctor, too- which I’m glad for, don’t get me wrong; I really do love being a doctor- but they pushed me into it so that I could learn how to take care of myself, and then they act like I don’t know it well enough.”

He pulled off his cap and ran a hand through his hair. “Plus, they’re afraid that if I go anywhere outside of Salubrity, I’m going to die some horrible death when I’m still young. They don’t care that I’m an adult and would know what to do if I hurt myself; if I’m anywhere further than a ten minute walk away, they freak the hell out.”

Jack turned his gaze to Ray, who was listening caringly. “I really want to go on a journey, and I really like you guys,” he said softly. “If I were to travel with anyone, I’d really want it to be with you four. But my parents are just so…” He huffed and looked at the ground. “So Mew damn overprotective. Honestly, at this point, I’d rather die in some horrific way while out on a journey than spend the rest of my life here.”

Ray swallowed and nodded, staring at the same spot the older was. “That makes sense,” he replied, “But… why do you always have to listen to your parents? I- I mean, not that it’s a bad thing that you are, I’m just really kind of curious, is all…” He trailed off and bit his lip. “Y-You don’t have to answer that if you don’t want to. Sorry.”

Jack smiled softly and looked at the younger. “It’s alright. I guess… I don’t really have a reasoning behind always listening to them, I suppose.” He leaned against the back of the swing. “It’s just what I’ve always known, maybe. I’ve never rebelled against them, to be honest.”

The Trainer looked up at the bearded. “Maybe it’s time you did,” he softly replied.

The Pokémon Doctor was quiet for a moment before he hummed in concurrence. “Maybe it is.”

 

* * *

 

 

Ray woke up the next morning similarly to how he’d woken up the previous- yelping and snapping up straight. However, this had not been induced by a nightmare, but instead by some yelling downstairs. In his haste to grab his glasses and get up to see the commotion, he ended up tripping on the blankets and falling directly onto his chest. Quickly, he scurried back to his feet and ran downstairs as fast as he could.

What he saw when he reached the bottom wasn’t anything alarming; it wasn’t a robber or the return of Team Freelancer, nor was it another injury or argument. No, what Ray saw was the rest of the people in the house standing together, most of them looking ecstatic, and Gavin looking extremely amused at Ray.

“Did you just roll out of bed?” he laughed, grabbing the attention of the others.

Ray unintentionally ignored the question, his mind still slightly in panic mode and mostly in “where am I and can I just go back to sleep” mode. Blinking blearily, he asked, “What the hell’s going on?”

Jack grinned and ran over, scooping the youngest into a large hug and holding him tightly. Ray coughed in surprise and returned it without thought. When the older pulled away, the Trainer smiled a little, still extremely confused.

“I don’t….”

“I took your advice,” Jack beamed, “And I told my parents that I’m going with you guys, no matter what they said. They weren’t happy, but they accepted it enough to say it was okay.” He grinned again, teeth showing brightly. “I’m coming with you guys!”

Ray was definitely awake now.

He yelled in joy and threw his arms around the larger, and, like the others, was extremely grateful that they would have a fifth person with them as their journey continued.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the read!


	11. Demanded Battle! Enter Geoff!!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just outside of Salubrity Town, the group runs into a Trainer who is extremely determined to get a battle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beacon Region Map: http://sweetiecurfyart.tumblr.com/post/111232399174/here-it-is-a-map-of-the-beacon-region-used
> 
> Art: sweetiecurfyart.tumblr.com

“Shit, Mew damn, mother _fucker_ …”

The man was storming down the path, swearing every word he could possibly think of as he fumed. He had realized just twenty minutes ago that he’d been going down the wrong path for two days now, and was now way behind where he’d wanted to be. With four Pokémon at his side, he had been prepared to take on the gym in Entity City, and he was planning on arriving there on Wednesday. However, due to his unfortunate misplanning, it now looked like he was going to be arriving on Monday instead.

Just as he was finally starting to calm down, he heard a shout coming from someone rapidly approaching him. He turned in time to see a Hoppip slam into his head just above the ear at a speed he wasn’t even sure a Hoppip could reach in the first place. The force knocked him to the ground, where he hit the same spot on an outgrown root sticking out of the ground. The footsteps paused long enough to pick up the Pokémon, and then ran off again.

“I’m really sorry, sir! Total accident!” she yelled.

The man just lay there for a moment, staring at the sky and fuming as his vision swam.

This was the kind of anger that only one thing could cure.

 

* * *

 

 

Now with five people in the group, the journey to Entity City was getting closer to its end; they were finally on Route 18, the route just before the first gym.

Out of all of them, the most excited seemed to be Jack. The man was running all over the path like a child who was in an amusement park for the first time, pointing out things left and right that the rest had been surrounded by for weeks.

Michael, still limping in the slightest, looked at Ryan with a raised eyebrow. “So… This is honestly his second time out of Salubrity Town in his life?”

“That’s what he told me,” the Breeder quietly replied. “First time was to Kanto, anyways, so I guess he’s never seen any other part of Beacon.”

Gavin frowned. “That’s honestly really sad…”

The only one of the four who wasn’t happy for Jack out of sympathy was Ray. He was watching the Pokémon Doctor with a genuine smile on his face, overjoyed with the fact that the older was finally enjoying himself and being able to live out a dream of his.

Jack came running over, pointing to a budding plant on the side of the path. “Do you see that? There’s an Oran Berry plant over there!”

“Really? That’s so cool!” Ray laughed.

Gavin raised an eyebrow. “Haven’t you ever seen one before?”

Ray didn’t miss the way that Jack deflated a bit. “No, never. I’ve only ever seen the berries when they’re ripe.” With that, he ran off again, eager to find something else new and exciting.

“How can you do that?” Michael asked Ray as soon as the Pokémon Doctor was out of earshot.

“Do what?”

“Get excited over something you’ve seen a million times!” he exclaimed. “Jack’s getting hyped about all this shit that everyone sees like a thousand fucking times every day, and you’re right up there with him! How are you not annoyed as fuck by it?”

Ray shrugged, looking down to play with the hem of his sleeveless sweatshirt. “I don’t know, man, isn’t it just easier?”

“What are you on about?” Gavin chimed in. “It’s not easy to conceal your own emotions!”

“I didn’t mean easier for me, I meant easier for him,” Ray pointed out. “Gavin’s right, it is hard to press back emotions and stuff, so I figure it’s better if I just act like it’s super exciting so he doesn’t have to feel like we don’t care and act like he doesn’t, either. Besides, I am excited, just not for the same reasons that he is.”

“Then what’s your reasoning behind it?” Ryan asked curiously.

Ray looked up to watch Jack start to beam as he discovered something they couldn’t yet see. “I’m excited that he’s this happy, is all.”

Gavin cooed and placed Ray in a headlock. “Daw, X-Ray, you’re so selfless!”

Ray forced himself out and gave the slightly older a skeptical look. “I am not.”

Before the Photographer could respond, a shout was heard from behind them. Ray flinched, and they all turned; Jack ran up to stand next to them as a man wearing a black and green scarf stormed up to them.

“Are any of you assholes Trainers?” he snapped.

Ray was _extremely_ intimidated by this; not only did the man look much more experienced than him, but he was absolutely furious. His hands were clenched at his side, the frown was etched onto his face with great precision, and his eyes were flaming with the kind of anger that you just knew not to mess with.

The youngest’s eyes widened, and he looked down, hoping that if no one said anything, the man wouldn’t notice.

Somehow, he just wasn’t that lucky.

“Oh, yeah!” Gavin exclaimed with a huge grin on his face. “Ray is!”

He slapped the Trainer on the back, forcing him to take a step forward. Ray could have cried when he watched the stranger reach to his side and pull out a PokeBall. The guy wanted to battle. Ray did not.

“Go, Larion!”

The large, steel-type Pokémon burst out with a loud battle cry. Without even asking, Gavin reached into Ray’s bag and pulled out his PokeDex.

_Larion, the Iron Armor Pokémon. To bulk up, Larion digs up and eats iron ore. It also smashes its strong body against others to fight for territory._

_Owned by: Geoff Ramsey_

“Mew damn,” Gavin breathed, “This thing is bloody powerful as hell!”

The man, who Gavin now assumed was Geoff, glared at him. “Well, no shit, dumbass,” he growled. He then pointed to Ray. “Get your Pokémon out.”

“I-I… Uh…”

“Come on, kid, I don’t have all day!”

With his hands shaking, Ray pulled a PokeBall out and released the Pokémon. Geoff barked in laughter.

“A Budew? Honestly?”

_“That’s what you’re going to be battling with? Are you fucking serious?”_

Ray shook himself out of the flashback and nodded. The man rolled his eyes and declared that Ray had the first move.

“Alright… Uh… Budew, use Absorb!”

The small Pokémon shot the thin, pale green beam at the large, metal Pokémon; all it did was stare. Geoff sighed.

“Mew damn, this is pathetic. I actually feel kind of bad for you,” he stated. “Larion, use Metal Claw.”

Within seconds, it had run over to Budew and slashed at it, sending it flying across their makeshift battle field.

“Budew!”

The unconscious Pokémon rolled to his feet, and he bit his lip before returning it. He swallowed and looked at his challenger, who was glaring at him.

“For fuck’s sake, kid, get your next Pokémon out already!”

Again, he shook as he sent Cyndaquil out, who screamed in adrenaline before it saw its opponent. It then squealed in fear and curled in on itself. Geoff growled.

“Seriously? Are these what all of your Pokémon are like?”

Ray pressed his lips together and looked at the ground; the other Trainer sighed and gave him the first move again.

“Ember!”

The Fire Mouse Pokémon stood and spat the small flames out of its mouth; Larion shut one eye in pain.

Geoff held out his hand. “Take Down!” A sudden sharp pain went through his head above the ear, and he flinched a bit, his arms twitching to grab it.

Jack had been watching the battle intently, excited about seeing this somewhere that wasn’t on television or at the Pokémon Center. However, he saw the stranger flinch when he called out the attack, and suddenly his excitement was replaced by worry, and his attention was on him.

“Jump to dodge it!”

Cyndaquil leaped at just the right moment, landing on Larion’s back.

“Now use Ember again!”

The Pokémon did as told and hit it directly on the back of its neck. Larion roared in its pain; Jack watched as the man squinted in his own.

It took him a moment to regain his composure, and he was calling out the next attack in seconds. “Get it off of you and use Metal Claw!”

Larion reared back, getting Cyndaquil off easily and lifting its arm, ready to attack.

“Roll out of the way!” Ray shouted.

The Iron Armor Pokémon ended up smashing its claws into the ground, creating a loud crushing noise and a huge hole in the path.

“Tackle!”

Geoff didn’t respond; he had his eyes screwed shut and his hand up to the side of his head. Jack started to inch his way over to him when he saw that he was swaying a little. Before he could get there, however, he opened his eyes and held out a hand.

“Dodge it and use Iron Tail!”

There wasn’t enough time for Larion to dodge, so Cyndaquil still slammed into it as hard as it could (which wasn’t very hard in the first place). However, the Fire Mouse Pokémon didn’t manage to get away before the Iron Armor Pokémon’s tail shone and flung at it.

“Cyndaquil, look out!”

It squealed just before it was hit and sent into a tree, leaving a crack in the wood as it slid down to the ground. Ray ran over as quick as he could, checking it over to make sure there were no long lasting injuries.

“Wow…,” Gavin mumbled. “That was brutal.”

Ryan shook his head. “This guy must be really fucking strong. There was no way that Ray could have even put up a big fight; I’m surprised he lasted so long.”

Michael frowned, seeing the youngest just sit there after putting Cyndaquil back in its PokeBall. “He’s crushed,” he whispered to himself.

Ignoring the conversation the guy’s friends were having, Geoff returned Larion into its PokeBall, whispering a word of thanks to it and placing it back on his belt. He was about to leave when he felt a hand on his shoulder; turning, he saw the man with a beard standing behind him.

“Are you okay?” he asked lowly, as if he didn’t want the others to hear. “I noticed you were flinching during the battle. Is it your head?”

Geoff ripped himself out of the guy’s grip. “No, it’s none of your fucking business, asshole.” He walked off in the direction they had been going in the first place, and had just made it past where Ray was getting up when another more intense stab of pain rang through his head. He shut his eyes, and when he opened them, he found that he was on his knees in the middle of the path in front of everyone.

Jack rushed forward to him, grabbing him by the shoulders when he stood again and swayed dangerously. “Whoa, whoa, relax. Where ever it is you’re heading can wait; at least let me take a look at it.”

“What are you, a fucking doctor?” Geoff hissed.

“Yeah, I am,” Jack asserted, “So let me look, if you will.”

The older glared, but pointed to his head anyway. “Got hit in the head with a passing Hoppip, then hit it off of a root in the same spot.”

The Pokémon Doctor turned Geoff to the side and inspected it closely as the others made their way over. Ryan smirked in realization.

“So you’re not a jackass then,” he said to Geoff.

“Not usually.”

“You’re just grumpy because your head hurts.”

The older man glared and crossed his arms in a childish manner. “Am not.”

Jack pressed his lips together and pulled off his light blue bag, kneeling down to rummage through it. He brought out an ice pack and crushed it enough to activate the coolness before standing and placing it on the slowly swelling area. Grabbing Geoff’s hand, he placed it on the ice pack.

“Keep that there for a while,” he sternly stated. “If it’s alright with you, I’d like it if you would stay with us for a day or two so we can keep an eye on that, okay?”

Geoff gave him a dark look. “You’re not going to Salubrity Town, are you? Because I’m already behind on getting to Entity, and if anything else holds me back…”

“We just came from Salubrity!” Gavin chimed. “We’re going to Entity City too, actually. Ray’s going to challenge the gym!”

The Trainer in the back tipped his head down; Geoff smirked.

“ _He’s_ challenging the gym?” he inquired. “Kid, you’ve got a long way to go before you’re ready to challenge anyone, let alone Brandon.”

Michael raised an eyebrow. “Who’s Brandon?”

“He’s the gym leader in Entity,” Geoff informed. “Specializes in water types. Listen, Ray, is it? You’re going to have to train like _hell_ to even stand a chance against him, especially since your strongest is a fire type. He’ll crush you harder than I did!”

Ray stayed silent, and he didn’t move. Michael frowned and looked at Geoff.

“He’s training,” the Ranger firmly said. “He’s been training since before I even met him! And he’s definitely improving pretty quickly, so I’d watch my ass if I were you and saying that, because he’s definitely going to be better than you someday.”

“Michael,” Ryan grumbled warningly.

The older Trainer snorted. “Come on, he couldn’t even beat one of my Pokémon. Do you honestly see _that_ much in him?”

_He’s right_ , Ray thought. _I really am weak._

Jack shook his head. “Alright, how about we start going now?” he said. “I think it’d be better for us all if we didn’t argue.”

They began continuing down the path; Jack and Geoff were in the front, with Ryan and Gavin just behind them. Michael, due to his limp, was a little slower, and he ended up back where Ray was. He took this as a chance to talk to him.

“You okay?” Michael asked. “You’ve seemed pretty upset since that battle.”

Ray just nodded curtly. The Ranger felt his heart drop a little.

“Don’t listen to him,” he said, nodding towards the older Trainer. “He’s just being a cocky asshole. You’re a good Trainer, really. With a little more practice, I think…”

He was cut off by a whisper coming from the younger. The Ranger leaned in a bit and asked, “Sorry, what? I couldn’t hear you.”

“I said, it’s fine, Michael,” Ray muttered. _You don’t have to lie to me._

The older felt his heart twisting, but he nodded regardless. “I’m, uh… I’m going to go talk to Ryan and Gavin, okay?”

Ray nodded, and then he was alone.

 

* * *

 

 

Geoff didn’t start feeling bad about what he said until the evening, when they were getting ready to eat.

They had found a clearing near the path to set up camp for the night, and most of them were setting up in some way or another, be it cooking or setting out food for the Pokémon. Neither he nor Michael were asked to help out, both because of their injuries, but neither of them were talking on account of their small feud about Ray earlier in the day. Speaking of, the youngest of the group was giving off a melancholic kind of aura around him as he set out the Pokémon’s food dishes. Geoff pretended not to notice the dull look in his eyes, or the sluggish movement of his limbs.

Finally, everything was ready, and Ryan called them all over to get their food. He caught Ray walking off; curious, he hollered over, “Hey, Ray, aren’t you going to eat anything?”

The younger Trainer stopped and glanced over, not realizing the concerned look on the five faces. “No thanks. I’m not really hungry.” He began to turn away. “Sorry.” With that, he continued his trek that ended at a tree far off from the others.

Geoff felt a pang of guilt when he realized that it was probably his fault that Ray was acting like this.

Dinner was quiet, as their worry for the Trainer carried over into their energy. Geoff was periodically looking at him, just to make sure he didn’t run off or something, and he watched as Ray went from sitting, to curled up, to placing his forehead on his knees. The older Trainer turned his gaze to Gavin.

“Is he usually like this?” He asked lowly, nodding towards Ray.

Gavin glanced at the younger. “No, I don’t think I’ve ever seen him like this before. I don’t know what’s wrong with him.”

Geoff shifted. “Do you think it’s because of our battle?”

“No, no,” the Photographer responded, shaking his head. “It couldn’t be that. Ray hasn’t won a battle yet; this one shouldn’t have made a difference.”

The older hummed in understanding and looked back to the youngest. He was going to have to talk to him.

Over at the tree, Ray was trying to figure out just where it was that he’d gone wrong.

He’d thought through every training method he’d used in the past week- the targets and the blocking. Each one he had initially thought was going well. Cyndaquil was getting more and more accurate with Ember, plus Budew’s Absorb had been turning into Mega Drain more frequently than it had been. But today, he still hadn’t been strong enough, even after all of their training together. He decided to think back to weeks before and see if he’d messed up anywhere then.

_“Larion, use Metal Claw.”_

_Within seconds, it had run over to Budew and slashed at it, sending it flying across their makeshift battle field._

_“Budew!”_

He flinched at the memory and buried his face in his knees. He didn’t even want to think about the battle.

_“Cyndaquil, look out!”_

_It squealed just before it was hit and sent into a tree, leaving a crack in the wood as it slid down to the ground._

Biting his lip, he swallowed, trying to get rid of the sudden onset of nausea. Maybe he wasn’t right for this, he thought. Maybe even starting this journey was a mistake. He didn’t even have a reasoning behind it in the first place. He began to wonder if maybe he should just give up and go home before he made a fool of himself in front of everyone.

He didn’t have enough time to plan his means of escape before he felt a presence very near him. He peered up to see the older Trainer hovering next to him, leaning against the tree.

“Mind if I join you?”

Ray just put his face back into his knees. Geoff took this as a yes and sat down next to him.

“Listen, I’m sorry for what I said this afternoon,” he sighed. “I was just being a baby and all pissy because my head was hurting.”

“But you meant it,” Ray whispered after a pause.

The older was silent for a beat. “Yeah. Yeah, I did.”

He managed to bury his face deeper as he curled in further on himself. “Then why should I keep going?” he softly asked. “If I’m not going to be able to beat Brandon, why should I even go there?”

Geoff stared at the younger, understanding every word he said.

_“Geoff, Geoff stop!”_

_“No!”_

_“Come on, Geoff!”_

_The young Trainer whirled around, pointing his finger at the older. “Why should I? Why should I even keep trying? I can’t even beat Brock! What makes you think I can beat anyone else?!”_

_The older grabbed onto his shoulders. “What makes you think you can’t get stronger?”_

_Geoff stared, blinking the tears out of his eyes. “Burnie, what the fuck are you talking about?”_

_“I’ll help you,” he stated. “I’ll teach you some training techniques and shit. Come on, man, this is your first journey; of course you’re going to lose a few battles! You can’t just give up!”_

__“_ Why not?” He crossed his arms and glared up the few inches it was to his friend’s eyes. He returned it with a stern look. _

_“I refuse to let you go home.”_

_“What?!”_

_Burnie crossed his arms in a similar manner. “You heard me. I’m going to help you train until you beat that gym leader. If you decide you still want to go home after that, then fine. But you’re not going to see any of Beacon until then.”_

_“You can’t do that!”_

_“I can, and I will. Otherwise, I’ll tell your mom that you were a whiny bitch the whole time you were here.”_

_Geoff growled and turned, storming back to the Pokémon Center._

“I’ll help you,” the older stated, looking at the ball next to him that was Ray. “I’ll teach you some training techniques and shit. Come on, dude, this is your first journey, and you haven’t even had your first gym battle yet. There’s no way I’m going to let you give up so soon.”

Ray shuddered. “I-I’ve already got training techniques,” he replied. “They haven’t worked well enough. I won’t be strong enough to beat Brandon, even if we were to get there next week. Why should I even go? Why shouldn’t I just go home now and forget this ever happened?”

Geoff stopped, trying to think his response through. “Well…” The words were slow coming out of his mouth. “First of all, maybe your training methods just aren’t the best for what you’re doing.”

“What do you mean?”

“There’s different techniques for different things. If you want to get your Pokémon to learn new moves, you just have to get them to use them over and over until they build up strength. If you want to build up your Pokémon’s stamina, you have other Pokémon attack it until it can endure pretty much anything. And if you want your Pokémon to just be stronger in general, simply battling will usually do the trick.”

Ray looked up and stared at the information the older had just spewed. He blinked and looked at the ground, realizing that he’d probably never be as strong as this guy was.

“And second.”

The younger looked directly at Geoff, who pointed at the other four.

“You’ve got a band of people up there who are supportive as dicks to you,” he sternly pointed out. “Would it really be fair to just leave them like they were nothing, after everything they’ve done for you?”

Ray swallowed, feeling himself begin to tremble as the words sunk in. “I-I…”

Geoff folded his arms. “Michael and I got into, like, fucking four arguments today over whether or not you were capable of doing this. He was on your side the entire fucking time, no matter what I said to prove that you weren’t. You’d be the dick of the year if you left them after that.”

He watched as the younger lost all color to his face before leaning back, shutting his eyes, and taking deep breaths. Geoff glanced away and back.

“You okay, kid?”

He nodded. Geoff didn’t believe him.

“Are you going to puke or something?”

Ray didn’t have the time to answer before he bolted up and to the bushes. Geoff sighed and stood as Jack came running over.

“Is he alright?” he asked urgently. “What happened?”

“I dunno, we were just talking and he just started throwing up,” he explained. Jack went over and began to take care of the younger as the older went back to the rest of the group.

While Michael was trying to prevent Gavin from also vomiting, Ryan was watching the two near the bushes. “Well… That explains why Ray didn’t want to eat,” he mumbled.

Geoff sat down next to the Breeder and shook his head. “I don’t think that was it,” he said. “He was more torn up about our battle, I think. Plus… I may have said some things…”

“Oh Mew damn it, Geoff,” Michael barked. “What the fuck did you say to him?”

Geoff ignored him. “I didn’t mean to freak him out that much, or at all, really. Is he just super sensitive, or…?”

Ryan shrugged. “I guess. I think he just doesn’t want us to worry about him, is all. I mean, this is the first time he’s thrown up over something, but it wouldn’t surprise me.” He got up to go help Jack return Ray to the group, leaving the other three alone for a moment.

“So… What did you say to him?” Gavin asked, finally regaining his composure.

“He…” He stopped, unsure of how to explain it. Shaking his head, he stated, “I don’t think I can explain it without telling you guys what he was saying, and I don’t know if he’d want you to know that.”

Michael scoffed, but Gavin nodded in understanding.

When the others finally arrived with the supposedly ill Trainer, they set him on the other side of Michael and joined Geoff on the other side of the fire. The Ranger wrapped an arm around the youngest, and he could immediately feel his trembles. Ray curled up and placed his forehead on Michael’s shoulder.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered, voice quivering.

“For what, being sick?” Michael laughed. “Nothing to be sorry for. You can’t control that.”

Ray wasn’t sorry for being sick.

 

* * *

 

 

Sleep did not come easily for Geoff that night.

The oldest was tossing and turning constantly, unable to find a comfortable position on the hard ground. His head was pounding, and he didn’t want to get up to get medication for fear that someone would wake up and see him. He ended up just lying and staring up at the stars, assuming that everyone else had gone out like a light.

He was mistaken.

“Geoff?”

He turned his head as soon as he heard the timid whisper. Ray was kneeling next to his sleeping bag, pale and a little shaky. Geoff sat up quickly.

“What’s up, buddy? Are you okay?”

The younger looked at the ground. “Did you ever lose battles as badly as I did today?”

_He took a step back in panic. “…Empoleon?”_

The older climbed out of his sleeping bag and sat next to Ray. “Yeah, absolutely. Even worse, I bet. Are you still upset about the loss?”

Ray wrapped his arms around himself and shrugged. “Just worried that I’m not doing well enough.”

Geoff laughed quietly. “Are you kidding? Everyone loses that awfully sometimes, no matter where they are in their journey.”

_“Empoleon!”_

_The stadium was dead silent as he ran to the fallen Pokémon._

“So… It’s normal, then?”

“Absolutely,” he assured. “There’s nothing for you to worry about. You’re fine.”

Ray gave him a small smile. “Okay. Thanks, Geoff!”

He got up and scurried back to his bag, climbing in before the older could even question it. Not that he needed to. He knew exactly what Ray was feeling.

Quietly, he slipped back into his own sleeping bag and shut his eyes, forcing sleep upon himself before any other memories could worm their way into his mind.

Ray, after placing his glasses next to him, pushed himself deeper into the warmth of his sleeping bag. He left a small smile on his face as he fell asleep quickly for the first time in weeks. The reassurance the older trainer had given him, he knew, would definitely come in handy in the coming months as the journey continued.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaaaaaaand we've finally gotten all of the characters introduced! Only took 11 chapters! :D
> 
> Thanks for the read, and thanks for almost 700 hits! You guys are the greatest <3
> 
> PokeDex entries come from this book: http://www.amazon.com/Pokemon-Essential-Handbook-Scholastic/dp/0545427711


	12. Anxiety Attack! Is Ray OK??

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ray has finally reached his breaking point, leading him into a less than ideal situation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Anxiety Attack
> 
> Beacon Region map: http://sweetiecurfyart.tumblr.com/post/111232399174/here-it-is-a-map-of-the-beacon-region-used  
> Art will be posted here: sweetiecurfyart.tumblr.com

“Are you positive that he’s okay to eat something?”

Jack sighed and placed the bowl on the ground. “ _Yes_ , Ryan. One hundred percent. There’s nothing to worry about,” he restated. “He wasn’t running a fever, and he looks fine now. It was just nerves from losing the battle, okay? He’s not sick. Stop worrying.”

Ryan ran a hand through his hair, casting a worried glance to the youngest. He was helping set out the bowls for the Pokémon, all while Gavin was fucking around with him by poking him and jabbing him when he was least expecting it. Eventually, he threw down the bowls and started chasing the Photographer, who screamed in typical Gavin fashion and ran away.

The Breeder sighed and nodded. “Okay. I’ll relax.”

Gavin wasn’t paying any attention to where he was going; all that he was caring about at the moment was getting away from Ray before the Trainer could get ahold of him. He really wished that he had been, however, when he suddenly hit something hard and saw the ground rushing up to meet him.

“You _fuck_!”

The Photographer laughed and bolted up, leaving Ray to help Michael back onto his feet. The two shared a glance, and to Gavin’s horror, they both started chasing after him. He screeched again and flew off towards Ryan and Jack.

Unluckily for him, Michael was fully rid of his limp and much faster than the slightly younger. Before he could reach the older two, the Ranger tackled him and pinned him to the ground. Ray ran up to them and kneeled down above his head.

“Not so strong now, huh?” he laughed.

Gavin glared at him and spat, “Suck my knob, Ray!”

“Your knob? The fuck is that?”

The three continued their arguments and wrestling as Geoff walked over to the other two older ones. “Is _this_ common?”

Ryan laughed as he watched their commotion. “Yeah, extremely.”

The Pokémon Doctor smiled and grabbed Ray’s abandoned bowls. “Hopefully this won’t be too much for Ray.”

“You just said he wasn’t sick!”

“That doesn’t mean he won’t get stressed out that much again!”

Ryan rolled his eyes and called the younger three over for breakfast.

 

* * *

 

 

Ray couldn’t decipher exactly when it started, but it hit him like a bitch slap when they were eating.

He was mid-bite when his chest began to tighten; a swallow prevented him from gasping in front of them all. _I haven’t had one of these in weeks… why now?_

It all came at once; the trembling made him set down his spork and lower his hands. His breathing deepened, partially to reduce the nausea, and partially to reduce the faint feeling in his head. He felt like he was breathing through six window screens piled on top of each other; his muscles tensed in every limb he could think of, and he could physically feel his heart pounding against his chest. He suddenly and unintentionally tried to make himself as small as he possibly could.

Ryan noticed Ray setting down his food and nudged Jack, giving him an “I told you so” sort of look. The Pokémon Doctor frowned.

“Ray, are you feeling okay?” he asked.

The Trainer swallowed and nodded, not trusting his voice to even work, let alone tell the truth. Jack clearly didn’t believe him.

“Are you feeling sick again?”

Ray shook his head, figuring they’d leave him alone if he just lied about it. He was thankful when no one else asked him about anything.

All feelings of gratefulness vanished once they started travelling again. The amount he was left alone before was proportional to the amount he was interacted with now. Even though he’d been fine with being touched in the previous weeks, now he didn’t even want to be within a foot of anyone or anything. Which caused a few problems with a group as social as this one.

Gavin was insistent on touching Ray in some way, shape, or form, be it wrapping his arms around his shoulders or jumping on his back or rubbing him on the head. With each moment of contact, Ray felt electricity run up and down the limb, and not on the romantic kind. This was the kind where his breathing would pick up a little and his muscles would tense further and his body was yelling at him to get away. Michael’s Growlithe was also doing things similar; it was sidling up into his leg or trying to jump onto his shoulder, trying to lick his face in a friendly sort of way that caused Ray’s heartbeat to pick up.

Michael kept trying to talk to him, despite his silence implying that he wanted to be left alone. He kept asking him questions that made Ray feel awful for being unable to answer. It didn’t help that Ryan was pushing the youngest to respond to the Ranger’s questions. This made his mind began to race, and his head to feel lighter and lighter.

_I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry I don’t know I’m sorry please just leave me alone, I can’t talk, I can’t breathe, I’m going to pass out, I’m going to pass out and they’re going to hate me, oh Mew they’re going to hate me, it’s not my fault, I’m sorry, I’m so, so sorry_

Jack and Geoff were both forcing Ray to stay with someone in some way at all times. It most likely wasn’t intended to be so harsh, but when all the Nucom Village native needed was to be alone, it felt like he was shoved into a glass box with no way out. They were each making sure someone was with him all morning. Jack kept asking Ray to help with things, but each time he ended up just standing awkwardly and trying to remember how it felt to breathe normally. Geoff was constantly at his side, sometimes joining in on Michael and Ryan’s attempts, but mostly just walking next to him way too close. Ray knew he didn’t mean harm, despite how much it was causing.

None of them did. They all had picked up on Ray’s nerves as soon as they came, and they were all trying to get him over them, not realizing that what he had wasn’t that simple, but instead a full out anxiety attack.

Despite being the victim of it, Ray wasn’t the first one to notice the thing that keyed the rest in that something was seriously wrong.

They were walking down the path when it happened. Gavin had had his arms around Ray’s shoulders, walking behind him, and Michael and Geoff were on either side of him, with the older Trainer looking forward and the Ranger watching Ray’s reactions as he spoke. Jack and Ryan were off to the side a bit, letting the others take over and hoping that something would get him to open up.

Michael’s questions suddenly stopped abruptly, before he asked one simple, small one that grabbed everyone’s attention.

“Are you… crying?”

This clued Ray into the wet streaks trailing down his face, and as much as he wanted to wipe them away, his arm muscles were locked up, forcing them to stay wrapped around themselves. He swallowed and sniffled, trying to get himself to stop the tears as soon as he could, but the actions caused him to unintentionally let out a sob.

As Gavin wrapped his arms tighter around him, Geoff leaned in closer and placed his hand on Ray’s shoulder. “What’s wrong? Why’re you crying?”

The Pokémon Photographer pulled his arms away, intending to run to where Michael had been standing, but he and everyone else stopped when Ray collapsed to the ground, trembling and sobbing.

Geoff looked at Ryan, about to ask if this was a common thing. The expression on the Breeder’s face implied that it was an extremely hard no.

For the younger Trainer, however, it was a yes. Despite the fact that it hadn’t happened in a few weeks, he was used to the shaking and having his muscles locked up and everything. The breaking down in front of everyone? Not so much. Through his attempts to calm himself down, his mind panicked, making it harder with each thought.

_Get up get up get up, everyone’s going to be pissed that you’re holding them back, they’re going to hate you and then leave you, why are you crying, stop crying, you’re okay but you’re not okay, just get up, act like nothing’s wrong, act like you’re okay, it’s just anxiety, you can explain it later if they don’t hate you except they’re absolutely going to hate you for this, they’re going to think you’re so weak, just- nonononono don’t touch me please don’t touch me please, Geoff, please take your hand away, I can’t talk but please, just listen to me, I’m so sorry, it isn’t your fault…_

Geoff pulled his hand off of his shoulder when Ray flinched away from it. Gently, he got onto his knees and leaned towards the younger.

“What’s wrong?” he quietly asked. Ray shook his head, shutting his eyes tightly. Geoff frowned and looked to the others for help.

Gavin got down and tried to re-wrap his arms around the Trainer, but this seemed to make him even more upset, so he stopped. “X-Ray, please, come on…”

With a sudden burst of confidence, and without even realizing he was doing it until it was over, Ray bolted up and started walking down the path, still sobbing and curled in on himself. Michael moved to chase after him, but Jack grabbed his arm before he got too far.

“I’m getting the feeling he wants to be alone,” he muttered to the other four. “Maybe we should just leave him for a little while.”

“That’s ridiculous!” Gavin exclaimed in a low voice. “No one wants to be alone. I’m going to talk to him!”

“No, Gavin, don’t!”

Ignoring Ryan’s words, the second youngest chased the Trainer down, putting his hands on his arms as soon as he got to him. “Ray-”

He ran a few steps forward, but Gavin got in front of him before he could get very far.

“Ray, please, I just want to know what’s wrong!”

“Gavin, please, _please…_!”

The slightly older stopped at the begging tone in his voice.

“Please, I just want to be alone, I’m really sorry, I’m not mad, but please, please, _please_ , just for a little while, please…”

Gavin cut off his rambling. “Alright! Alright. It’s fine.” He started to walk back to the others. “It’s alright. I’m just worried, alright? Sorry for making you uncomfortable.”

Ray’s shaking increased from the tears as soon as Gavin was gone.

 

* * *

 

 

Michael was on the Photographer as soon as he reached the group. “Well? Did you figure it out?”

He shook his head. “No, he just asked me to leave him alone,” he stated. “Well… Not really ‘asked’, I guess. It was more like begging than asking.” His gaze was cast to the ground. “I really wish he would just tell us what’s wrong.”

“It might still be because of that battle yesterday,” Ryan suggested. “I mean, if he was throwing up because of it…”

Geoff sighed and looked at the trees; Jack placed a hand on his shoulder. “It’s alright,” he assured. “You’ve done what you can. Best thing to do now is to just leave him alone.”

The oldest rubbed his face and nodded. “Right. I know.”

Michael looked at the Pokémon Doctor. “Do you think he might still be sick? I mean, I know it’s kind of a long shot, but maybe he’s just stressed and feeling gross and that just pushed him over the edge.”

The bearded paused. “Maybe. If that’s the case, we should probably take a break. We’ve been walking for a while, anyway.”

Ryan started to run towards the one in front. “I’ll go tell Ray.”

Gavin kept a close eye on them, and he sighed sadly as he watched the youngest turn and back away fearfully from the Breeder’s touch. “What’s wrong with him…?” he whispered to himself.

When Ryan returned, Ray was timidly trailing behind him. His hands were constantly flying to his face, wiping away stray tears, and he was very visibly shaking. Gavin wanted nothing more than to just give the youngest a hug, but he knew that it would make things worse, so he resisted. Jack went up to the Trainer with a gentle look on his face.

“Can I touch you long enough to take your temperature?”

After a moment of hesitation, the dark haired nodded; he curled away a little when the wrist came near, but otherwise had ahold of himself enough to let the deed be done. When Jack pulled away, he scratched the back of his neck.

“Well, you feel fine,” he muttered before looking at Michael and shrugging.

Geoff looked at Ryan, gesturing towards one of the trees. “I’m going to go sit for a while.”

This caught Jack’s attention, and the slightly younger looked at the oldest. “Is your head alright?”

“Yeah, yeah, it’s fine,” he informed, “Just no point in standing if we’re taking a break, you know?” With that, he turned and walked to the spot in mind.

Gavin and Michael shared a glance before they went after Geoff; instead of sitting under the tree like the older Trainer had, they climbed up to a decently lower branch and sat next to each other, quietly discussing the matter at hand.

With the other three gone, this left Ryan, Jack, and Ray standing alone in the middle of the path. The older two were quiet, trying to give Ray the space he needed. He ended up shuddering before quickly running over to where Geoff was, curling up as fast as he could about a quarter of the way around the tree.

The older cast him a glance, and the younger looked at him, attempting to give him a worry free smile. It came off as broken, however, and Geoff felt his heart drop before he returned the gesture. Ray looked away and put his chin on his knees. He tried to forget the pitying look in the older Trainer’s eyes.

Neither of them said a word. It was enough for Ray.

 

* * *

 

 

Hours later, they were setting up for dinner. They had managed to get a little further after Ray had calmed down; everyone was treating him like they would a crumbling flower petal. No one was touching him or interacting with him at all, really. Earlier in the day, Ray would have given anything to have this, but now that all of his energy had returned, all that he wanted to do was screw around with Gavin and Michael like he had that morning.

Gavin was setting the bowls out for the Pokémon, and he was about halfway through when he felt something small hit his face. He flinched and yelped, turning to see who had thrown the item. His eyes widened a bit when he saw Ray smirking and reaching into the bag of Pokémon food. He didn’t have time to react before another pellet hit him square between the eyes.

“Are you feeling better then, Ray?” he asked wickedly. He got his answer when Ray giggled and threw another piece. Gavin dodged it and threw down the bowls, jumping up to chase the younger. With a shriek, he turned, dropped the bag, and ran off.

Ray’s attention was focused on getting away from the older, so he ended up slamming into Michael, knocking both to the ground. The Ranger cast the Photographer a questioning glance before grabbing the youngest around the waist as he tried to escape. Once Ray was fully on the ground, Gavin joined in and helped pin the Trainer down.

The older three turned when they heard Ray’s screaming; none of them could prevent their smiles in seeing the three wrestling and laughing.

“Looks like Ray’s back to normal, then,” Ryan said with a sigh of relief. “Thank Arceus. I was starting to get seriously worried.”

Jack looked at the other two. “Hopefully that was just a one-time thing. I don’t think I’ll be able to stand seeing him looking so scared again.”

Geoff kept silent. He had an ominous feeling in his gut that this was absolutely not a once-in-a-journey kind of ideal, but he didn’t want to worry the others, so he left it alone. For now, though, he smiled at the sight of Ray actually being joyful, and prayed that it would stay this way for a long time as the journey continued.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the read! Hope you enjoyed!
> 
> (I hope I got the anxiety attack written accurately- I based this one off of the ones that I have sometimes. Apologies if it's not too close to what others experience!)


	13. Entity City! Explore the Town!!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The group finally arrives in Entity City, and they decide to take a day to look around and see what's in store.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beacon Region Map: http://sweetiecurfyart.tumblr.com/post/111232399174/here-it-is-a-map-of-the-beacon-region-used
> 
> Art will be posted: sweetiecurfyart.tumblr.com

His footsteps were pounding on the ground as the edge of the city came closer and closer; he could physically feel his lungs aching as his chest heaved. His legs were in pain, yet despite all of the hurting going through his body, he couldn’t get rid of the grin on his face. They were finally almost there.

Geoff slowed to a stop when he came to the entrance gate and read the sign.

_Welcome to Entity City!_

As the others caught up, he turned and grinned at them. They ceased their running, each breathing heavily. Michael looked up at the older Trainer.

“Next time… Calm your fucking dick.”

The oldest glared and slapped him on the shoulder. “I won’t have to unless we get that lost again,” he huffed, sending Gavin a sharp look.

The Photographer snapped up and posed an insulted expression. “What? It wasn’t my fault!”

“You had the fucking map!” Ray exclaimed.

“Well, it wasn’t my idea to give it to me, was it?”

The younger Trainer rolled his eyes and turned away. Ryan, sensing that another fight was on its way, grabbed Jack’s and Michael’s arms, dragging them towards the gate.

“Come on, let’s go in already. Maybe we’ll have enough time for a little sight-seeing before it gets dark,” he suggested. The other three followed him quietly into the city.

 

* * *

 

 

They reached the Pokémon Center and gotten their rooms a lot quicker than they’d initially thought. On a mutual agreement, they got together in Michael, Ray, and Gavin’s room to discuss what they were doing later in the evening.

“I think we should absolutely go see the gym,” Geoff suggested. “You know, just so we know where we’re going tomorrow.”

“Oh my Mew, Geoff, you’re so damn excited for that!” Gavin pointed out, flopping back on his bed. “Would you bloody give it a rest?”

“Ryan asked for suggestions! That’s my fucking suggestion, asshole!”

Jack leaned against the wall, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Okay, okay, relax. Let’s just talk, alright? No fighting. Just talking.”

Michael grabbed Ray and dragged him onto his bed to get him out of the way of the oncoming feud. “I think it might be a good idea to split up for a while,” he said. “I get the feeling we’re all just getting a little sick of each other.”

The Pokémon Breeder nodded. “Yeah, that sounds good. Who’s going with who?”

“Dibs on Ryan!” Geoff hollered.

“Same!” Gavin called out.

“Absolutely not,” Jack snapped. “You two are the ones who have been arguing the most. You’re not being in the same group together.”

“Mi-cool!”

The Ranger sighed. “Fine, but only if we can get Ray in with this.”

“Then I guess we’re getting Jack,” Ryan stated. “Good. It’s groups of three.”

“Nice!” Gavin exclaimed. “So we’ve got the Lads and the Gents!”

There was a beat of silence.

“The whats?” Geoff inquired.

“You know! You’ve got Mi-cool, Ray, and I, and we’re the youngest three, so we’re the Lads,” the Photographer explained, “And then there’s you three, and you’re the oldest, so you’re the Gents.”

Ryan shook his head. “Okay. I don’t think that makes sense, but I’m just going to ignore it. Let’s just go already, yeah?”

Geoff started towards the door. “As long as we get to see the gym, I’m okay with anything.”

 

* * *

 

 

The Pokémon Center doors slid open, and Gavin was the first one to come rushing out. “Where’re we going to go, guys?”

Michael and Ray followed him out at a much slower pace. “Somewhere public would probably be smart,” Michael growled quietly. Ray stifled a laugh and looked away.

The Photographer hurried over to them. “Come on, guys! We’ve got the entire city to go through in just a few hours! We’ve gotta find some good things!”

“We have more than tonight,” Ray pointed out. “We’re going to be here for a few days, probably, since Geoff and I have our gym battles. It won’t be like Salubrity Town. We’ll probably have time to go to other places if we don’t get to them tonight.”

“But I want to get as many pictures as I can _tonight_ ,” Gavin whined. “Before we get sick of this place.”

Michael rolled his eyes and grabbed him by the arm, dragging him down the street. “Then let’s just roam until we find something. Maybe that’ll get you to stop complaining.”

“I’m not complaining!”

“Bullshit!”

Ray cringed, thinking that maybe placing these two together in one group wasn’t such a great idea after all.

 

* * *

 

 

Jack hurried over to the other two. “Thanks for waiting, guys. I promised Caiti I would call her as soon as we got here.”

Ryan shrugged. “It’s no big deal. I’m not going to get upset for needing to call your girlfriend.”

“Me neither,” Geoff added. “It’s your girlfriend, dude.”

“Well, let’s get going then,” the Pokémon Doctor said, leading them out of the Pokémon Center. “We said we’re going to Cinder Park first, right?”

“Yeah. We’ll pass the gym on the way there, so that’ll get that over with,” Ryan added.

Geoff shifted his weight between his feet. “I am excited as dicks to see this place!”

“I heard that it has an entire Olympic swimming pool in it,” Jack informed, “So I think that’ll be pretty cool to see!”

“ _Every_ water type gym has a swimming pool in it,” the Trainer sighed. “It’s not that significant.”

“Oh.”

Ryan watched as Jack deflated a little, and he suddenly understood Ray’s outlook on life. He shrugged and looked at the youngest of the three. “I didn’t know that,” he lied. “I guess it’s not very common knowledge.”

The Pokémon Doctor smiled, ignoring Geoff’s scoff of unbelief.

 

* * *

 

 

“Gavin, seriously, I am going to fucking murder you.”

“But Mi-cool!”

“’But Mi-cool’ nothing!” The Pokémon Ranger turned to the younger and shoved a finger in his face. “Can’t you just shut the hell up for one Mew damn second so I can figure out where the fucking hell we are?!”

Gavin’s shoulders fell. “My boi…!”

“I’m not your boi. I don’t even know what the hell that is, but I’m not it!”

Ray swallowed and stepped out of the way of some passing citizens. Growlithe jumped behind his leg in the same manner. “Guys, maybe we should get out of the sidewalk…”

The bickering two looked and saw that they were, in fact, causing some backed up traffic. With a sigh, they glanced at each other and started walking again.

“Let’s just go to the park,” Gavin grumbled. “There’ll be places to fight there, right?”

Growlithe jumped onto Michael’s shoulder with a cry of agreement, and the Ranger nodded. “Sure, whatever.”

Ray took hold of the hem of his shirt. “Maybe there’ll be some places you can get pictures of, Vav,” he pointed out.

The Photographer smiled a bit. “There probably will be, now that I think of it.”

“Great, another thing you can hold us back with.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?!”

Ray and Growlithe shared a disappointed look and sighed.

 

* * *

 

 

“Holy _dicks_.”

The Gents’ gazes were all on the tall building in front of them. It must have been at least ten stories high, each having glass windows that were clearer than cellophane on a doorway to the kitchen. Through those, they could see water sloshing around, and every once in a while, someone would go swimming past, be it Pokémon or human. When they looked through the glass front doors, they saw a humongous swimming pool- larger than any of them had ever seen. There were small platforms floating on the water. On either side was a set of bleachers that could easily fit a few hundred each. The front donned a large sign that had a PokeBall insignia and some text written on it.

“’Entity City Pokémon Gym’,” Ryan read, “’Leader: Brandon. Type: Water. Is available for swimming lessons and training.’ Huh, that’s something I haven’t heard of before.”

“What, that the gym doubles as something else?” Geoff asked. “Well, it’s not unheard of. I know there’s a gym in Hoenn that’s also a school, and there’s one in Kanto that’s a laboratory for science and stuff. There’s all kinds of things gyms can be.”

Jack stared at the building a bit longer before turning to look at the older two. “So… to the park, then, since we know where this is now?”

They nodded, and the three turned and walked towards the stated location.

 

* * *

 

 

With Growlithe in his arms, Ray scurried into the forested area. “Come on, guys, let’s just walk around for a while! We might find something fun!”

Growlithe barked in agreement, watching the bickering two silently follow the youngest. Michael had his arms crossed, glaring at the ground on the opposite side from Gavin. The Photographer had his hands behind his head, and he huffed as he gave the sky a sour look.

Ray frowned and let the Pokémon hop onto the ground. He slowed himself a little so he was standing in between the two; they glanced at him, made eye contact, and looked away. The Trainer sighed before glancing around to see if there was anything to distract them from the tension. With a small gasp, he hurried off in one direction, waving for the others to follow.

“Guys, look! It’s one of those street bands!”

The other two cast a look at each other as Growlithe ran after the Trainer. They followed him at a slower pace, and ended up next to him in the handful of people watching the musicians.

The band consisted of a trombone, a trumpet, and a drummer. All three wore button up shirts and dress pants. They were playing an upbeat song, and some of the couples in the crowd were starting to dance. At one point, the trombonist pulled the instrument away from his face and began to sing. Gavin, whose mood had increased significantly, grabbed the hand of the person next to him.

“Let’s dance, Mi-cool!”

“Gavin, no.”

He pouted, pulling the older a bit. “But Mi-cool…”

The Ranger sighed, a smile twitching on the edge of his lips. “Please, Gavin, we’re in public,” he said playfully. Gavin grinned, and when Michael finally let him pull him off a bit, they started swinging each other around and laughing.

Ray had been so intent in listening to the music that he didn’t realize the other two were gone until he went to say something to them. Confused, he turned just in time to see Michael practically whipping Gavin into a hold that one would expect to see in a 30’s movie. The two were giggling like crazy, and when the song ended, they had to go over and sit on a nearby bench to catch their breath. Ray smiled, let Growlithe jump onto his shoulder, and walked over.

“So, are you guys going to bang now, or…?”

Michael snickered. “Ray, please. Not until we get home.”

“I’m not sure if my girlfriend would like it if she saw us shagging on the nightly news, anyway,” Gavin added. Michael’s eyebrows rose.

“Oh, Gav’s got a fuck buddy?”

He laughed. “Nah, we haven’t banged yet. We haven’t even met, to be honest.”

“So she doesn’t exist?” Ray joked. He pulled back a little when he saw the scowl he was given.

“Of course she exists, you pleb! She just lives in Fervor Town. I met her through a friend when he had to go there for a conference,” he explained. “We’ve only talked online so far. Video chats and stuff, you know.”

Michael smirked and slapped his shoulder playfully. “We’d better be stopping there at some point, then,” he said. “I want to be there when you meet her!”

Gavin laughed and leaned back against the back of the bench. “So, either of you have girlfriends? Or boyfriends, I dunno. I won’t judge.”

Ray shook his head while Michael scoffed. “No offense, Gav, but I find love to be a waste of time.”

“What?”

“Wait, seriously?”

He threw his hands behind his head and looked at the treetops. “Yeah, I just don’t see a point to it. Even if I did, I don’t exactly have time to have a girlfriend. I’ve got Pokémon to save, people to talk to, you know? I don’t want a girlfriend to pull me away from that.”

Ray sat down on the ground in front of the bench. “I don’t know. Even if I could get a girlfriend, I would want to be with her.”

Gavin’s attention turned from one single male to another. “What do you mean, ‘if you could get a girlfriend’? Is there some reason you can’t?”

The Trainer shrugged and timidly scratched the back of his neck. “I’m not really social, you know, plus if there’s someone I like in a romantic kind of way, I just kind of… freeze up, you know?”

The Photographer sent him a sad smile. “Well, then, I’ll help you gain some confidence! That’s all you need, right?”

He shrunk into himself a bit. “T-That’s okay, I don’t really…”

“No, seriously! I’ll do it!” He suddenly jumped up off of the bench. “Come on! Let’s help Ray find someone!”

Ray sighed nervously as Michael and Growlithe reluctantly followed the slightly younger. Maybe the fighting hadn’t been so awful at all.

 

* * *

 

 

When Jack stepped onto the large bridge in front of them, he peered over the edge at the Pokémon below them. “This is such a nice park,” he chimed. “The one in Salubrity Town’s not nearly as clean or safe as this one.”

Ryan did the same as Jack was doing. “At least you have a park. Canalave City’s just bridges and water; there aren’t any islands with a park on them.”

The older Trainer leaned against the railing of the bridge, gazing up at the clouds and adding, “Well, Dirtbag Town doesn’t have any of that. I mean, we’ve got Professor Hullum, but that’s about it.”

Jack turned his head towards him before pushing away from the bridge and finishing the cross. “What’s Dirtbag Town like, Geoff?”

“It’s just a couple of houses and the lab,” he replied. “Not much to see. Or do, for that matter, unless I wanted to be another lab assistant. Kind of obvious why I left.”

The other two followed the youngest of the Gents deeper into the park; Ryan made sure he stayed next to Geoff.

“Why are you doing Beacon now, then?” he asked. “You said you’ve been through Kanto, Johto, Unova, Hoenn, all of those regions. Why wait to do your home region until now? Or are you just repeating it so you can beat the Champion?”

“Well, Beacon didn’t have a Pokémon League when I first started,” the Trainer explained. “So I obviously couldn’t back then. A friend wanted me to come with him to Kanto anyways, and I went with him. After that, I just didn’t really want to come home yet, so I just kind of roamed until recently.”

Ryan nodded, looking at the ground in understanding as Jack slowed himself to let the others catch up.

“I remember when the Beacon League started up,” he stated. “There was a lot of talk about whether or not Salubrity Town would get a gym. We obviously didn’t, but I never found out why.”

“Because the chick they wanted to be the gym leader, Sarah, didn’t want to do it,” Geoff informed. “She said that the town’s for healing Pokémon, not fighting with them. So they put the gym in Seedling instead.”

“It fits better there, I think,” Ryan chimed. “They’re all about plant life and gardening and shit, and they’ve got the Grass type gym there, right?”

Geoff nodded. “Yeah, I don’t know why that wasn’t their first choice. It definitely is better there than it would have been in Salubrity Town. No offense, Jack.”

The Pokémon Doctor shrugged. “It makes no difference to me. I think it’s better that there’s no gym in Salubrity Town, anyway.”

Geoff looked away, directly at a huge rock nearby. “Whoa, check this out!”

The other two watched as he ran over to it, grabbing onto the side of it. Ryan raised an eyebrow.

“It’s a boulder,” he deadpanned.

“It’s not just a boulder!” Geoff exclaimed as he began to climb.

“It’s a rock?” Jack inquired.

“No! Well, yes. But this rock is so fucking huge that once I get to the top, I bet I’ll be able to see half the fucking park!” He pulled himself up to the top with a grunt and observed the area around him. “Holy _shit_ , you guys have got to get up here.”

Jack and Ryan glanced at each other and did as told.

 

* * *

 

 

Gavin shoved Ray towards the girl. “Go on! Go talk to her!”

“Gavin, seriously, I don’t want to!” He rushed to the area behind the Photographer. “I don’t do well with this shit. How many times do I have to tell you that?”

Michael grabbed Ray by the shoulders, rolling his eyes when the youngest dropped to the ground to get out of the grip. “Come on, Gav, don’t force your ways upon the kid. He doesn’t need to find love any more than you or I do.”

Crossing his arms, Gavin huffed. “Everyone needs to have someone! How many times do I have to explain that to you plebs?”

“How many times until you give up?”

The Gubbin native glared and sighed. “I’m not going to give up! Ray, come on! We’re going to keep going until we find someone you like!”

The Trainer curled in on himself a bit. “Can we not? I think I’ve had enough socialization for an entire week…”

Gavin grabbed their arms and started charging through the park at a quick pace. “That’s all a bunch of crap! You can never have enough socialization!”

Ray grimaced, picking out another reason to admit to his anxiety disorder.

Michael rolled his eyes, yanking his arm out of Gavin’s grip. “Fuck that! If this is all you’re going to be doing today, then I’m going back to the Pokémon Center. I don’t want anything to do with this shit.”

The Photographer stopped and pouted. “But Mi-cool…!”

“I think I’m with him,” Ray agreed. “I don’t want to be spending today going around looking for girls when we could be seeing everything else in the park.”

Gavin groaned and dropped his arms. “Fine. I guess we don’t have to do it today. But mark my words, we will find you a girlfriend!”

As the median aged ran off, Ray crouched and ran his fingers through his hair. “Gavin, why…?”

Michael kneeled next to him and gently set a hand on his back while Growlithe pawed at his legs. “Don’t worry, I’ll get you out of it. He’ll listen to me, and we can find a different way to get you some confidence.” With that, he got up and jogged to catch up to Gavin. Ray watched, readjusting his glasses with a sigh.

“But I don’t want confidence…”

He swallowed and stood, chasing the older two with a twist in his gut.

 

* * *

 

 

Ryan stood, holding his arms out to keep his balance. “This cannot be safe…”

“It’s probably not, but who cares?” Geoff laughed. “We’re up here now.”

Once he gained his balance, he took a look around. “Now let’s see…”

Jack crawled up the rest of the way and let out a sigh of relief. “Mew, this rock is big…”

“Just like my dick.”

“Geoff,” Ryan scolded.

The oldest shrugged. “I’m just stating the truth, dude.”

Rolling his eyes, he turned back to the park. “There’s a huge fountain over there,” he pointed out, “And over there it looks like they’re setting up for a party or a concert or something.”

“Are there any of those street bands around?” Jack asked. “I’d fucking love to see one of those.”

“Yeah, they’re all over the place. There’s one just a few hundred feet in that direction.” Ryan held a finger out in about the same direction as the fountain.

The Pokémon Doctor smiled and looked. “They look good! Can we go over?”

Geoff was off of the rock in seconds. “Yeah, let’s go!”

Ryan clambered off quickly, leaving Jack to sigh and do the same before they headed over to the small crowd watching the band that consisted of two guitars, a trumpet, and a drummer. Jack and Geoff both grinned at the music, while Ryan cringed a little.

“Fuck, Jack, you were right! These guys are great!” Geoff laughed. He started swaying a little to the music; Jack laughed and started doing the same. He turned to get Ryan in on it, but stopped when he saw the slightly pained look on the Breeder’s face.

“Are you okay, Ryan?”

“Yeah, I’m fine, just…” The rest of the sentence was lost in mumbles. The other two stopped dancing and raised an eyebrow at him.

“What’d you say?” Geoff asked.

Ryan huffed and leaned in closer to them, crossing his arms and rubbing them to get the goose bumps away. “They’re not in tune,” he hissed. “The trumpet, it’s like a quarter tone sharp, and that guitarist, the one who’s singing, he’s a quarter tone flat.” He leaned back and shook his head. “If it were just one or the other, it wouldn’t bother me so much, but since it’s both, it’s almost literally hurting my ears.”

The other two stared at him for a moment in silence.

“Okay, I have no idea what the fuck that even means,” Geoff broke. Ryan sighed.

“Sorry. I have perfect pitch, which means I know exactly how notes are supposed to sound. Their notes don’t sound right, and it’s fucking with me.”

“Why didn’t you just say that?” Jack inquired with a laugh. “Let’s go somewhere else, then. The fountain, maybe?”

“Or we could go find another street band,” Geoff suggested.

Ryan shuddered and shook his head. “No. I don’t want to take the chances that they’ll be as out of tune as this one. Let’s go to the fountain.”

 

* * *

 

 

Any notion that Gavin had had anger in his body- or any emotion, really- just moments ago was lost the moment he saw the fountain in front of him. His hands dropped to his sides, and his mouth fell open. The awed look in his eyes was almost enough to make them glisten in the dwindling sunlight. He slowly walked up to the water to take it in with an exhale.

The top of it had a Mew looking up and spraying water from its mouth; it was so detailed you could see every individual piece of fur on its body. Underneath that was a circle consisting of six Cresselia, and below them was a Rayquaza that was wrapped around the fountain. Celebi were at the base, playing with each other as they were dotted at the bottom. In the water, one could easily see a Lugia and a Kyogre swimming in the foundation.

Michael crossed his arms, an impressed look on his face. “That is super fucking detailed,” he stated.

“Whoever made this must be one hell of an artist,” Ray added.

Gavin nodded, preoccupied with pulling out his camera. After he started taking pictures, Growlithe and Michael both went over and started gazing into the water. Ray did the same, keeping an eye on the Photographer to make sure nothing happened to him.

He sat on the edge, looking around at the people around the fountain. There were a bride and groom on the other side, getting their pictures taken as they smiled contently. Children and Pokémon were splashing around nearby; their parents were scolding them quietly in the meantime. Bands were gathered together a few yards away, and various other street performers were taking a break and sitting on the benches.

There wasn’t much time after his people watching before he was drenched in water.

Yelping, he leaped up, expecting to see that it was Michael behind him laughing hysterically, but instead he saw Ryan, who was in the process of sitting down. Ray, once he caught his breath, gave the Gent a dirty look.

“Are you fucking serious?” he asked dully.

The other two of the older three came over, laughing quietly. “Hey, Ray, you look a little wet,” Geoff laughed.

“Really. I had no idea.”

Michael was suddenly at his side, and Growlithe at his feet. “Well, fancy seeing you guys here,” he stated. “I thought this was a kid’s only place. Like, no old guys allowed.”

“Oh, fuck you, Michael! I’m only a couple of years older than you!” Jack pointed out with a laugh. The Pokémon Ranger flipped him off and turned to go grab Gavin.

When they returned, Gavin grinned at the older three. “Do you see this fountain?” he exclaimed. “It’s bloody amazing! I’ve never seen a fountain as detailed as this one is!”

Geoff shrugged, turning his gaze towards it. “It’s a fucking fountain. What’s the big deal?”

The straw haired gasped and started on a tangent on why the fountain was amazing, which was the other fours’ cue to tune him out.

Ryan looked at Ray. “So, why’re you so wet?”

The Trainer sighed, shaking his head. “Eh, you know. Can’t contain myself, I guess.”

Michael laughed loudly. “Man, you’re really fucking excited about this fountain, aren’t you?”

Ray grinned and looked away, rolling his eyes. “Yeah, totally. Can’t you tell?”

Jack chortled, pointing to the sky. “It’s getting pretty late. I think it’d be a good idea if we go back to the Pokémon Center so Ray doesn’t get sick. Anyone with me?”

It was in that moment that Ray realized he was shaking a little from the cold. He looked up to see the stars beginning to come out, and he nodded. “Yeah, I’m kind of tired anyway. Let’s go back.”

As the group began to walk towards the exit of Cinder Park, Gavin rushed to walk next to the younger Pokémon Trainer.

“Tired? Already?” He crossed his arms. “But it’s only, like, eight, plus you slept in this morning! How can you be tired?”

“You made me talk to all of those girls!” he replied quietly. “How could I not be tired when I had to socialize that much?”

“Why does socializing make you tired? It should be giving you energy!”

Ray shuddered and wrapped his arms around himself. “It just does, okay?”

It seemed Ryan could sense Ray’s want to be left alone, so he came forward and grabbed Gavin by the shoulders. “Hey, so you got pictures of the fountain, right? Could you show me some of them?”

Their conversation faded into the background of Ray’s mind, and Jack came to replace the silence that they’d left. “When we get back, I think you definitely need to change your clothes into something dry, okay?”

The younger nodded, and they fell quiet as they walked towards the Pokémon Center to get a good night’s rest before the journey continued.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the read! Sorry that this chapter was a bit long. Hope you enjoyed anyway!!


	14. Entity City Gym! We'll Take You Down!!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's finally time for Geoff to challenge the Entity City Pokemon Gym- but can he beat it?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beacon Region Map: http://sweetiecurfyart.tumblr.com/post/111232399174/here-it-is-a-map-of-the-beacon-region-used
> 
> PokeDex Entries from: http://www.amazon.com/Pokemon-Essential-Handbook-Scholastic/dp/0545427711
> 
> Brandon's Design: http://sweetiecurfyart.tumblr.com/post/118724659959/ryan-tapped-the-two-on-the-shoulders-and-they
> 
> EDIT: Better design and gym badge: http://sweetiecurfyart.tumblr.com/post/118836142064/entity-city-gym-leader-brandon-farmahini-finally
> 
> Any other art will be posted here: http://sweetiecurfyart.tumblr.com

After a day to relax and recharge, the crew is finally ready to take on the Entity City Pokémon gym. However, one is very clearly more excited than the others.

Geoff bolted out the door, his cup of coffee still in his hands. “Come _on_ , guys! We don’t have all day!”

Gavin was the next one out, shrugging. “You know, we technically do. It’s not like he’s going to be busy the entire day or anything.”

“Have you even _seen_ the gym? Of course he’s going to be busy!”

Jack sighed as he and the others followed them outside. “Geoff, relax. If we miss him, we miss him. We’ll just wait until tomorrow. It’s no big deal.”

The older Trainer spluttered a bit at the words. “No big deal? I’ve been waiting to challenge this gym for months! Of course it’ll be a big deal!”

“Well, if we would just fucking _go_ , maybe we won’t miss him,” Michael grumbled. Geoff nodded and started to run off.

“Then we’d better be fucking fast as dicks!”

“Can dicks even be fast…?” Gavin pondered as they chased after him.

Ryan suddenly stopped and turned, seeing that Ray, still half asleep, was still standing in the same spot he’d been in a minute ago. “Ray, are you coming?”

The younger’s head shot up, and after rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, he nodded and followed silently.

 

* * *

 

 

Once they got to the gym, Geoff and Jack went off to find the gym leader as the Lads stared in awe and Ryan stayed to keep an eye on them. Gavin started taking pictures immediately, and Ray walked over to the water to peer inside. He leaped back a bit when a Pokémon splashed out at him.

Michael walked over and gently tapped the younger on the shoulder. “Don’t you have that PokeDex thing? Why don’t you use it on that?”

With a swallow, Ray nodded and did as asked.

_Tentacool, the Jellyfish Pokémon. Made mostly of water, it uses beams from its eyes. Unfortunately, many fishermen have fallen prey to its poisonous barbs._

_Owned by: Casey Hill_

“Well, that’s fucking dark,” Michael mumbled.

Ryan tapped the two on the shoulders, and they turned to see the other two returning with a man around the same age as Gavin. He wore a white jacket with a blue trim and nothing under that; his pants were blue capris, and his shoes were black sandals. He had a pair of green goggles resting on his forehead.

“Found him,” Geoff declared.

The man smiled and nodded. “I’m Brandon. I’m the gym leader here. I assume you all are staying to watch?”

They all nodded, and were very soon sitting in a small section of the bleachers, watching as they each called out one of their Pokémon. Gavin nudged Ray, and once again, the youngest pulled out his PokeDex and scanned them.

_Luxio, the Spark Pokémon. Luxio can cause their foes to faint by letting loose with some spectacular high-voltage electricity._

_Owned by: Geoff Ramsey_

_Staryu, the Star Shape Pokémon. If it is torn or damaged in battle, the rest of Staryu can grow back- as long as the red core of its body (which flashes at midnight) stays intact._

_Owned by: Brandon Farmahini_

One of the swimmers walked to the edge of the middle of the pool and held his arms out on either side.

“The Enitity City’s next Pokémon battle is about to begin! The gym leader, Brandon’s, challenger today is Geoff from Dirtbag Town!”

Brandon grinned cockily and pulled the goggles over his eyes. “Let’s get this started! I’m sure you’re getting your ass kicked!”

“Oh, you want to fucking bet on that, kid?” Geoff yelled.

The swimmer ignored them and continued his short speech. “Each Trainer will have the use of two Pokémon, and the battle will only be over when one Trainer loses both. Only the challenger may switch out his Pokémon.” He dropped his arms to his sides. “Geoff, are you ready?”

“As dicks!”

“Brandon, are you ready?”

“Fuck yeah, I am!”

“Alright then!” He held up one arm and threw it down. “Battle begin!”

Geoff quickly threw out his hand. “Luxio, Thunderbolt!”

The Pokémon nodded and leaped into the air, crying out as it shot electricity out of its body directly towards the Water Type Pokémon.

“Quick, into the pool!”

Without even making a noise of agreement, it jumped off of its platform and into the water, causing the Thunderbolt to completely miss. Luxio landed on its own platform and glared into the water, searching for it.

“Now, Rapid Spin!” Brandon hollered out.

Luxio had hardly any time to react before Staryu shot out of the water and knocked it into the air.

Up in the stands, the group flinched at the sight.

“That is one fast mother fucker,” Jack pointed out.

Ryan nodded. “This is going to be a tough battle.”

Gavin raised an eyebrow. “Are you kidding? Did you even see how hard he crushed Ray when they first battled? Surely he’s going to win!”

“I’ll bet you five bucks he doesn’t,” Ryan replied.

“You’re on!”

Michael shoved into Gavin’s shoulder. “Could you guys shut the fuck up and actually watch the Mew damn battle?”

Geoff clenched his fist, a smirk on his face. “Quickly get back down and use Bite!”

Opening its eyes, Luxio shot Staryu a glare and flipped itself around before letting itself fall. When it got close, it opened its mouth and clung onto one of Staryu’s arms.

“Staryu!”

“Now, Spark!”

Luxio shut its eyes and released a blue charge off of its body and onto Staryu’s. The Star Shape Pokémon cried out in pain.

Brandon glared and pointed at his Pokémon. “Get it off of you with Bubble Beam!”

From a different arm, Staryu released a long, brisk stream of bubbles that collided with Luxio’s torso and shot it off. With a hard _thud,_ it landed on a platform closer to Geoff. Slowly and excruciatingly, it tried to stand.

“Get up, Luxio!”

“Mew damn, isn’t he being a little harsh?” Gavin hissed. “If Luxio’s hurt, yelling at it isn’t going to make it any better!”

“It might give it that little extra push Pokémon sometimes need,” Jack explained. “Sometimes that’s the key to getting them to finish the battle.”

Ray shifted in his seat a little. “I don’t think I’d ever be able to do that,” he whispered.

After a moment, Luxio finally managed to clamber back onto its feet. With a bark of confidence, it glared at Staryu. Geoff grinned and pulled a fist towards his chest.

“Great! Now, Thunderbolt again!”

“Block it with Hydro Pump!”

The electric bolt and the blast of water met in the middle of the field, creating a small explosion that splashed everyone around them, stands and all. Michael was quick to take off his jacket and start drying off his Growlithe.

When it was clear that no damage had been done to either of the Pokémon on the field, Geoff frowned and held out a hand. “Run up to Staryu and use Discharge!”

Luxio darted from platform to platform, quickly advancing towards the opponent’s Pokémon.

Brandon glared and copied Geoff’s movements. “Dodge it by jumping into the pool!”

Before Staryu could obey, Luxio tackled it and pinned it to the platform.

“Shit, Staryu, no!”

The Water Type Pokémon screamed as electricity covered its entire being; by the time the Electric Type Pokémon let it free, it was unconscious.

“Staryu is unable to battle!” the swimmer called out. “Luxio is the winner!”

The rest of the crew cheered in the stands; Geoff sighed in relief and wiped sweat off of his forehead.

“Halfway done,” he mumbled. “Think you can handle a second battle, Luxio?”

It looked at him and nodded while Brandon put Staryu back in its PokeBall.

“Nice job, Staryu. Better luck next time, I guess.” He pulled out another PokeBall and threw it towards the battle field. “Tentacool, you’re next!”

The Pokémon landed in the water, crying out confidently. Up in the stands, Ryan tilted his head to the side a bit.

“Isn’t Geoff going to switch out?” he asked. “Luxio’s getting pretty fucking worn out…”

“I guess his strategy is to push his Pokémon until they can’t go on any further,” Jack pointed out.

Michael crossed his arms. “That’s one hell of a strategy. He’s going to kill his Pokémon if he keeps doing that!”

Ryan shook his head, turning his focus from the conversation to the battle below.

Brandon looked at Geoff with a confident smirk. “You can take the first move again.”

The older Trainer nodded and held out his hand. “Alright then. Luxio, use Spark into the water!”

With a nod, the Pokémon jumped into the pool long enough to shoot out some electricity from its body. The entire body of water lit up, and Tentacool flinched at the shock. As soon as Luxio climbed back onto its platform, Brandon jerked his head up a little.

“Water Pulse.”

Lifting its tentacles out of the pool and above its head, a small, blue sphere appeared between them before it was shot towards Luxio. As it got closer, it grew, until it was about three feet away. It suddenly formed into a large jet of water that knocked Luxio off of its platform and completely soaked Geoff.

“Mother _fucker_!”

Once the jet had disappeared, Luxio climbed back on and shook the water off of its fur. It then growled and sent an extremely dark look towards Tentacool.

Geoff copied the look and pointed at the opponent’s Pokémon. “Go use Bite!”

It darted across the platforms again; Brandon and Tentacool both stayed still.

“What the fuck is he doing?” Michael suddenly snapped. “Tell Tentacool to dodge it, dumbass!”

Gavin sent the Ranger a look. “Whose side are you on?”

Before Michael could reply, Brandon pointed at the rapidly approaching Electric Type.

“Use Wrap before it can attack!”

Sure enough, as soon as Luxio was close enough, Tentacool threw its tentacles around it and gripped it tightly. Geoff growled and held out his hand.

“Discharge!”

“Poison Jab!”

The electricity exploded at the same time that the Water Poison Type’s tentacle glowed purple and jabbed into Luxio’s abdomen. There was another explosion, and this one sent Geoff’s Pokémon flying through the air. It landed on a platform and groaned. Geoff sighed and looked at the ceiling.

“What’s he sighing for?” Gavin squawked. “The battle’s not over yet!”

“I wouldn’t be too sure about that,” Ryan replied.

They watched as Luxio struggled to stand before collapsing, unconscious. Brandon and Tentacool both cheered.

“Luxio is unable to battle! The winner is Tentacool!”

Without saying a word, Geoff called his Luxio back into its PokeBall and sent another out. After a nudge, Ray yet again pulled out his PokeDex.

_Stantler, the Big Horn Pokémon. You can easily become entranced by the patterns on the majestic antlers of this Pokémon._

_Owned by: Geoff Ramsey_

“A Normal Type? In a Water Type gym?” Jack questioned. “Doesn’t that put him at a bit of a disadvantage?”

“We’ve got this shit, Stantler!” he yelled. “Use Stomp!”

The Pokémon grunted and started to gallop towards the Jellyfish Pokémon.

“Poison Sting!” Brandon yelled.

“Dodge them!” Geoff hollered.

Each poisonous dart was gracefully ran past or over; as soon as they had all missed, Stantler leaped off of its platform and slammed its hoof onto Tentacool’s head, shoving it underwater forcefully. Using the power from the move, it jumped high into the air.

Brandon held out an arm. “Quick, from underwater, use Water Pulse!”

The next thing they knew, Stantler was being thrown even higher up due to a large blast of water. When that disappeared, Geoff threw his hand above his head.

“Use Take Down!” he shouted.

Stantler quickly turned in midair and managed to quicken its speed as it fell towards the water; as soon as Tentacool popped its head out from the pool, the Normal Type slammed into it, immediately shoving it back under. Stantler briskly clambered out of the pool, while Tentacool floated to the surface, unconscious.

“Tentacool is unable to battle! Stantler is the winner! Therefore, the victory goes to the challenger, Geoff!”

Geoff threw his fist in the air, cheering. “Fucking fuck yeah! I knew we’d kick his ass!”

Stantler reared back in joy. The rest of the crew yelled and got up, shouting their words of congratulations down to the battle field. Geoff sent them a nod and a call of thanks.

Brandon sighed and smiled softly, pushing the goggles back to his forehead. “Alright then. Geoff, if you’ll come with me, please.”

“Abso-fucking-lutely!”

As he followed the gym leader into a different room, the rest of the group started to walk out of the bleachers.

“Where do you think he’s taking him?” Jack asked.

“Probably to give him his badge,” Ryan replied. “It’s probably in a back room somewhere. Let’s just meet him outside.”

Sure enough, a few minutes later, as they were all waiting just by the entrance, Geoff came racing out, a small object clenched in his hand.

“Check this out, assholes! I got me an Epsilon Badge!”

He held out his hand to show them the badge. It was shaped like a star with a gem in the middle; each of the triangles around it were colored teal, while the gem was a dark shade of blue. It reflected a bit of the midday light off of it.

“Wow, that’s pretty fucking nice,” Michael stated.

“And!” Gavin added, “It’s proof that Ryan now owes me five quid!”

Ryan raised an eyebrow. “Five squids? Gavin, there’s probably more than that inside of the gym. Why don’t you just go in and get five yourself?”

“Not squid, _quid_!”

“Exactly!”

The Photographer growled and rolled his eyes, storming back towards the Pokémon Center. Jack and Ryan looked at each other and laughed before following, Michael and Growlithe close behind. Ray was about to do the same, but a pat on the back from Geoff stopped him.

“Well, kid, looks like you’re next,” he reminded. “Think you’re ready?”

Not willing to admit the truth, he nodded with a smile. “I fucking hope so.”

“Great, because you’re going tomorrow!” Geoff exclaimed. “I talked with Brandon while I was getting my badge and had it all set up, so you’re not going to have to wait.”

“O-Oh…” Ray plastered a fake grin onto his face. “Thanks, man.”

“No problem! Now come on, let’s catch up with those fuckers!”

The older ran off, leaving the younger to take a shaky breath before doing the same, preparing himself for the journey to continue.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the read, and above all, thank you for 1,000 hits!!!! (Which I assume will hit with this chapter, since it's literally 2 away as of when I'm typing this.) This means the world to me. Thank you all so much!!!
> 
> Also, please tell me if you see anything wrong in the gym battle or anything. This was my first time writing a gym battle, so it's probably a little shaky. ALSO I'll post a better picture of Brandon and the Gym Badge design tomorrow, promise!!
> 
> Thanks again! <3


	15. Breakdown at the Entity City Gym!!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ray goes to have his first gym battle, but anxiety's holding back his full potential. His recovery from said anxiety is less than ideal, he decides.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Anxiety Atack
> 
> Beacon Region Map: http://sweetiecurfyart.tumblr.com/post/111232399174/here-it-is-a-map-of-the-beacon-region-used#notes
> 
> Brandon's design and gym badge: http://sweetiecurfyart.tumblr.com/post/118836142064/entity-city-gym-leader-brandon-farmahini-finally
> 
> Art will be posted here: sweetiecurfyart.tumblr.com

It was well into the night, and most of the rooms in the Pokémon Center were dark. Most of the humans were sleeping with their Pokémon at their side or in their PokeBalls. Only a few were still bright and lively- Nurse Joy, who was sitting behind the counter, waiting for Trainers who would arrive in the early hours of the morning, and two rooms across the hall from each other on the third floor.

In room 318, the occupants were preparing to go to bed. Ryan had already taken up the bathroom to change into pajamas, leaving Geoff and Jack in the bed area, already prepared. The Trainer sat on his bed, inspecting his badge, and the Pokémon Doctor was lying on his back, his Turtwig curled up on his chest.

Ryan walked out quietly, wearing a sweatshirt and a pair of basketball shorts. “So, tomorrow’s Ray’s battle, then?”

Geoff glanced up at him before turning back to his badge and nodding. “Yup. Got it all arranged and everything.”

The Pokémon Breeder sat on the bed in the middle of the other Gents’. “Do you think he’ll do alright?”

“I don’t know.” Geoff sighed and brought his hands to his lap. “I mean, he’s been fine in training so far, but who knows how he’ll react when they battle? He might choke for all we know.”

Jack turned his head towards them. “Ryan said that he was fine battling other times.”

“Ah, no, I said that that’s what Gavin said. I don’t think we can trust him on that.”

Geoff laughed a little and put his badge on the nightstand. “Yeah, that kid’s got a mind full of dumb. I’m with Ryan on that one.”

Jack smiled softly and pulled his Pokémon off of his chest before climbing under the covers. “Alright. I trust it.”

The older two followed his actions, and Ryan turned to the younger. “Do you sleep with that Turtwig with you every night, or…?”

“What, Taylor?” Jack asked. “Yeah, I can’t sleep without her. I’ve had her for so long, you know?”

Geoff rolled over and let out a long breath. “No, no, no. I refuse to let there be pillow talk in this room. We are _men_.”

The other two laughed quietly before Ryan got up to turn off the light.

Room 317 was a bit more energetic than the prior room. Aside from Ray, who was curled in a ball under the covers in a sad attempt at sleep, there was the sound of mattresses being jumped on, pillows being thrown, and yells of blissful anger. It was only when the youngest heard a Gavinesque squawk followed by the _thud_ of a body hitting the floor did he finally sit up and shake the sleep out of his eyes.

Michael jumped off of the bed and helped Gavin stand. “Sorry, Ray,” he laughed. “We’ll try to be quieter.”

 _You said that ten minutes ago,_ he thought in reply. Instead of saying the words out loud, he just sighed, shook his head, and got out of bed. He noticed that the room was quiet as he slipped out onto the balcony, curling up on the floor next to the sliding glass door. With a deep breath, he tucked his head into his knees.

He wasn’t ready for this battle, be it mentally or by his Pokémon. He knew that was going to lose if he were to go tomorrow, but he also knew that if he didn’t, Geoff would most likely be angry, and he still had yet to figure out how he would handle it the next time it happened.

As he wrapped his arms around his legs, he swallowed. He still wasn’t even completely sure that this was what he wanted to be doing, anyways. Even with the others at his side, could he handle it? This anxiety that he had, would it hold him back from doing everything? He’d already had one attack in front of the others; who was to say that he wouldn’t have one mid-battle?

He didn’t get much further in his thoughts before the glass door slid open and Gavin popped his head out. “Hey, X Ray, we’re going to go to bed. Wanna come in?”

The younger nodded and got up, ready to finally catch some sleep before his battle.

 

* * *

 

 

_“Sableye, go!”_

_The Trainer froze. If she was taking out a Pokémon, that could only mean…_

_“Use Scratch on the kid.”_

_His head snapped up, and he snatched Cyndaquil into his arms and turned, feeling the Ghost Pokémon’s claws rip into his upper arm. He let out a scream before he felt a pair of arms pulling him up and away._

 

* * *

 

 

He woke up with a jerk and a wince, the nightmare still plaguing his mind until he saw the sunlight pouring through the window. After he’d ripped his sleeve away from his arm to make sure that the injury was, in fact, gone, he groaned and flopped down back onto the bed. Regret filled his abdomen, and he curled up into a ball. The gym battle was today. Right.

Ray squeezed his eyes shut and frowned. “Come on, Ray,” he whispered, “Get up. You can do this.”

Slowly but surely, the dark haired sat up, placed his glasses in their rightful position, and stalked out of bed. Before he could really think anything through, he found himself standing in front of the table most of the others were sitting at and watching as Michael and Growlithe made room for him.

“You look tired as dicks,” Geoff commented as the younger sat down. “That’s probably not going to be great for your gym battle. Seriously, did you get no sleep at all or some shit like that?”

Gavin, Michael, and Growlithe shared a glance and a nervous laugh; Ray tiredly looked to the ground and grabbed the hem of his shirt. _Let’s not talk about it yet, please,_ he thought.

Footsteps were heard behind them, and Ray moved long enough to see Jack and Ryan making their way over, each with three mugs in their hands. They both grinned when they saw that the youngest was with them.

“Hey, look who’s up,” Jack laughed, sitting next to Geoff and passing his mugs to the oldest and the Photographer. Ray sent a tired smile to the Pokémon Doctor before he was bumped over a bit by the Pokémon Breeder.

“Good morning, good morning,” he sang quietly. He placed his mugs in front of himself, Ray, and Michael before taking a sip of his own. “Sun beams will soon smile through…”

Gavin rolled his eyes at the older and leaned in towards Ray. “So, are you ready?”

“For what?”

“Your gym battle, you dope!” he laughed. “Did you forget about it already?”

Ray bit his lip and grabbed a sip out of whatever it was that was in his mug, letting it distract them long enough to change the subject.

He still didn’t want to talk about it.

The rest of their time at the Pokémon Center seemed to go past in a blur; he vaguely remembered getting dressed and meeting the Gents in the lobby, and he felt like there had been some silent panicking on the way to the gym, but now he found himself standing where Geoff had the day before, kicking himself for not protesting to this and gripping tightly and nervously to Budew’s PokeBall.

“The Enitity City’s next Pokémon battle is about to begin! The gym leader, Brandon’s, challenger today is Ray from Nucom Village! Each Trainer will have the use of two Pokémon, and the battle will only be over when one Trainer loses both. Only the challenger may switch out his Pokémon.”

Ray didn’t realize that Brandon had sent out his Staryu until the swimmer acting as the referee snapped her fingers at him.

“Hey, kid, aren’t you going to send out your Pokémon?”

“O-Oh! Right!”

Michael frowned from where he was sitting with the others. “Something’s not right,” he mumbled. Geoff, on his left, nodded in agreement with a similar look on his face.

“What is this kid’s deal? Was he abused or something?”

The Ranger shook his head. “I don’t know. He’s not usually like this.”

Geoff pressed his lips together. “Well, at least he’s smart enough to use a Grass type like Budew instead of Cyndaquil.”

“I wouldn’t be too sure about that,” Ryan pointed out. “It’s not really that strong. You know that.”

Gavin raised an eyebrow at the Breeder. “But he told me that it learned Mega Drain. It did, didn’t it?”

Ryan shook his head. “It’s used it once. That doesn’t mean that it’s able to use it again, at least not yet. I haven’t seen that move since the first time.”

The Photographer bit his lip and looked down to the battlefield, worry filling his gut.

The swimmer held her arms out. “Alright, then. Ray, are you ready?”

He nodded.

“Brandon, are you ready?”

“Hell yeah!”

“Okay! Battle, begin!”

There was silence for a moment; the air was tense with anticipation. Eventually, Brandon glanced at the stands and back to the Trainer.

“Uh… You do know you have the first move, right?” he asked.

Ray swallowed thickly and nodded. “Sorry… Uh, Budew, use Absorb!”

The Grass Type Pokémon quickly shot a pale green beam at Staryu, which enveloped it and caused it to flinch.

Brandon stifled a grin and held out his hand. “Bubble Beam, go!”

As soon as the beam was gone, Staryu jumped onto a closer platform and shot the bubbles at Budew. Ray flinched a little.

_“Mew, you’ve got to be the most pathetic trainer I’ve met yet!”_

“U-Uh… Stun Spore!”

“Dodge it! Into the pool!”

Budew shot the yellow powder out, but due to Staryu being in the water, none of the attack reached it.

_“Mew, why do you have to do everything so perfectly?”_

He felt his arms begin to shake.

“Now, Water Pulse!”

“G-Get out of the way, quick!”

Budew jumped from platform to platform; as soon as it had jumped off of each, the platform was blasted into the air by the sudden water.

Ray held out a hand. “Try to find it to use Absorb again!”

_“Great! Now Ray can be bothering two people at once!”_

Budew landed on an already fallen platform, turned, and shot the beam into the water. A soft glow was emitted through the water.

“Rapid Spin!”

With a splash, Staryu ripped out of the water and knocked directly into the Bud Pokémon. It stumbled, but caught itself quickly and stood upright.

_“I don’t think you would have lasted long without him- no offense, of course.”_

His throat began to close up, and he struggled before calling out an attack. “Absorb, again!”

“Block it with Bubble Beam!”

The attack broke the moment it hit the wall of small, blue spheres in front of them; Ray had to bite his lip to prevent his teeth from smashing against each other repeatedly.

_“You’re going to have to train like hell to even stand a chance against him, especially since your strongest is a fire type. He’ll crush you harder than I did!”_

His eyes were suddenly prickling, and his voice was nearly unable to work at all at this point. His worries from the previous night all came rushing back; he realized that there was no way he could finish this battle.

Michael sat up a little bit, grabbing onto Geoff’s shoulder. “Something’s wrong,” he stated. “Something’s really wrong.”

The group glanced at him before turning their gaze to the youngest as he pulled out a PokeBall and held it out.

“Budew, return,” he squeaked out in a voice that just barely echoed through the gym.

Gavin raised an eyebrow. “Why’s he switching now? Budew’s been doing fine so far, and his only other Pokémon is Cyndaquil…”

“I don’t think he’s switching out,” Geoff whispered. “Just watch.”

Ray shakily put the PokeBall back onto his belt and faced the swimmer, fists clenched tight. “I-I forfeit,” he declared, voice cracking. As soon as the words were out, he turned and bolted out of the gym, leaving the swimmer and the gym leader dumbfounded in their spots.

Jack, Ryan, and Gavin gasped; Michael’s eyes went wide, but there was otherwise no reaction. Geoff leaned back and crossed his arms.

“Where’s he going?” Ryan asked quietly. “Is he okay?”

“If he was, do you think he would have left like that?” Michael growled.

Gavin jumped up. “We’ve got to go after him! Something’s mingy with X Ray!”

He started to make his way out of the bleachers, but Jack grabbed the back of his shirt. “Hold on! Don’t you remember what happened the last time we were pushy with him to tell us what’s wrong?”

The Photographer blinked, then looked at the floor with a frown.

_As Gavin wrapped his arms tighter around him, Geoff leaned in closer and placed his hand on Ray’s shoulder. “What’s wrong? Why’re you crying?”_

_The Pokémon Photographer pulled his arms away, intending to run to where Michael had been standing, but he and everyone else stopped when Ray collapsed to the ground, trembling and sobbing._

He shook his head. “Did we ever even figure out what was wrong with him then?”

“No,” Geoff replied. “Once he got over it, he refused to say a word about it. Every time I asked him about it, he just said, ‘Eh, you know’ and wouldn’t say anything else. Maybe whatever that was is why he did this.”

Michael caught sight of movement out of the corner of his eye, and he turned to see Brandon coming towards them from the other side of the bleachers. His lips were pressed together tightly, and his brow furrowed.

“Is he okay?” he asked once he got within earshot. “He looked kind of off…”

“That’s what we’re trying to figure out,” Jack explained. “We don’t know what’s wrong with him.”

The gym leader nodded and sighed. “Well, you should probably go after him then, huh?”

“If you’re so concerned, then why don’t you?” Gavin snapped. “It’s probably your bloody fault anyway!”

“Gavin!” Ryan hissed.

“I have gym leader duties,” Brandon barked. “I can’t just run out to some crying kid and lie to him to convince him he did good! If he can’t handle a loss, then that’s his fault!”

Michael moved to go towards him, a glare plastered on his face, but Geoff grabbed his arm before he could get very far.

“He’s got a point,” the older reminded quietly. “Let’s just go find Ray.”

 

* * *

 

 

He ran.

He didn’t pay attention to where he was going; all that he focused on was pumping his legs and controlling his breathing so he didn’t sob in the middle of a crowded street and getting away from the gym and _stop stop stop you’re being stupid, just stop, go back to the Pokémon Center, no one will be there, just get alone and you’ll be okay…_

When he looked up, all he saw was trees. After he’d pulled off his glasses and wiped the tears away from his eyes, he saw a small abandoned playground nearby. He replaced his glasses and walked over, sitting on one of the swings, and realized that he had run deep into Cinder Park.

Ray swallowed, looking down at the dirt as tears finally escaped their placement from behind his eyes. This was stupid, so stupid. Why did he even leave in the first place? He should have stayed in Nucom Village.

When he felt himself beginning to shake again, he wrapped his arms around himself. Did the others even want him there? Maybe his job was to just bring them together and leave them. Wouldn’t that be for the better? Why would they want him, of all people, to be travelling with them?

With a frustrated growl, he stood and walked over to one of the poles holding the slide down. Through the small bits that hadn’t rusted, he caught sight of his reflection. He glared at it.

“You fucking piece of shit,” he whispered, “You can’t even make it through a gym battle, and you want to beat the league? Fucking _moron_!”

He kicked the pole, leaping back when it made a large clanging noise. After a quick sweep of the area to make sure no one was there to look, he sat down with his back against the pole and curled up.

“Stupid, stupid, stupid…”

 

* * *

 

 

Gavin came racing down the stairs, nearly colliding into Ryan in the process. “He’s not in our room,” he cried. “We couldn’t find him anywhere!”

Each of the Gents frowned. “What? Are you sure?” Jack asked.

Michael came down, Growlithe in his arms, and he shook his head. “No, we looked everywhere. We even checked your guys’ room. There’s nothing there. I mean, his stuff’s still here, so he didn’t completely leave, but…”

Geoff sighed and ran a hand over his face. “Well… Guess he’ll come back on his own, then, at some point.”

“But what if he’s in trouble?” Gavin begged. “He’s not coming back if he’s been shanked!”

Ryan gently placed a hand on the Photographer’s shoulder. “Hey, relax. He’s got his Pokémon, remember? He’s able to take care of himself. Give him a little credit, yeah?”

Gavin nodded, keeping quiet for once. The Gents shared a look before Jack grabbed each of the remaining Lads by the arms and pulling them up the stairs.

“Let’s go watch a movie while we wait for him to come back, okay?” he suggested. “No point in scaring him off just after he gets here.”

Michael looked back at the two eldest and watched as they went over to a bench near the entrance and sat. “What about those two? Aren’t they going to come?”

“I think they’re going to wait for Ray. They’ll come get us when he comes back.”

Gavin frowned and looked at the passing wall; Michael reached over and punched him softly on the shoulder.

“Don’t worry, Gavvers,” he sighed, “He _is_ going to come back.”

 

* * *

 

 

It had been a couple of hours since he found the place, and Ray was beginning to think he’d spend the rest of the day there. He’d gone from crying to angry crying to beating himself up to silently sitting then back to crying, and then repeated the process two or three times. The current stage was silently sitting; he was at the top of the slide, arms wrapped around themselves, and staring at his feet.

He knew he would have to go back eventually- there was no questioning that. He wasn’t going to just leave all of his stuff and go home. He started to consider sneaking in in the middle of the night, after everyone was asleep. Maybe he could leave a note explaining his anxiety disorder?

_“And second.”_

_The younger looked directly at Geoff, who pointed at the other four._

_“You’ve got a band of people up there who are supportive as dicks to you,” he sternly pointed out. “Would it really be fair to just leave them like they were nothing, after everything they’ve done for you?”_

_Ray swallowed, feeling himself begin to tremble as the words sunk in. “I-I…”_

_Geoff folded his arms. “Michael and I got into, like, fucking four arguments today over whether or not you were capable of doing this. He was on your side the entire fucking time, no matter what I said to prove that you weren’t. You’d be the dick of the year if you left them after that.”_

Ray shook his head to get himself out of the memory. No, he couldn’t do that. Obviously they liked him, anyway, if they’d argued about him like that before. There was nothing to worry about.

Facing them again was the issue.

His throat began to close up again, and he pulled his legs up to bury his face in his knees. The cycle was about to begin again, and he was not looking forward to it. He shuddered and started to whisper his usual method to calm himself.

“Ichi, ni, san, shi…”

 

* * *

 

 

Jack sighed as he shut the door to the Lads’ room for the third time; he turned his gaze to see Michael laying on his back with his head dangling over the edge of the bed, Growlithe on his chest, and Gavin sitting cross legged at the bottom. The Ranger turned to look at the Pokémon Doctor.

“Anything?”

He shook his head. “Not yet.”

He shut his eyes and growled quietly. “Where the fuck is he? Why isn’t he coming back?”

Gavin glanced at Ray’s stuff on the side of the room with a dim look on his face, hoping he would return soon.

“Well, hopefully he’ll be back by the end of the next movie,” Jack sighed. “Onto the fourth.”

 

* * *

 

 

His footsteps were the only thing he could hear as he walked in circles around the swing set. He had to go back. He had to go back. He had to go back.

Dark clouds were forming in the blue sky above; the winds were picking up, whipping everything possible around, including branches, the swings, and his dark hair. A chill had set in the air, one that made Ray shiver even more intensely than he had been before. A storm was rapidly approaching, he didn’t know where to go to get back to the Pokémon Center, and he still didn’t know how he was going to face the others when he got there.

He was about to give up on panicking and try a random direction when he felt a drop of water hit his nose. He blinked in surprise, and the next thing he knew, it was sprinkling. He cursed and started to run in a random direction- it didn’t even really matter which way, at this point. He just had to find somewhere dry.

The only thoughts running through his head were _run run run, what am I going to do, run run run_. He pulled his hood up to protect himself a little, although once it started down pouring it was pretty much useless.

Eventually, he came across a somewhat familiar portion of the park, and when he turned, he saw somewhere extremely familiar and empty. He never thought he’d be so happy to see that dumb fountain in his life.

With a relieved smile, he started to run in the direction of the Pokémon Center.

 

* * *

 

 

Geoff’s gaze never left the window unless he was spoken to. His blue eyes stayed glued to the world past the glass, and the look on his face was less than pleased. Ryan sighed and put an arm around the older’s shoulders.

“Relax, would you?” he laughed. “Ray’ll come back. No doubt about it. He wouldn’t just leave his stuff like that, or us.”

The Trainer sighed and leaned back, looking at the younger. “Yeah, I know. The kid’s just worrying me.”

Ryan’s small smile faded away. “Yeah. I understand. I just wish he’d tell us what the hell is wrong.”

They were silent until the sound of pouring rain filled the gap. Both turned to look, and each frowned.

“That idiot had better get his ass back soon,” Geoff mumbled.

 

* * *

 

 

Ray was so focused on getting to the Pokémon Center that he never saw the crack in the sidewalk until his foot had caught in it; his body met the ground directly where a huge puddle had gathered. He sat up, spluttering and coughing the water away.

“Fucking great…”

He stumbled up, taking a much, much slower pace towards his destination, shivering wildly the entire time.

 

* * *

 

 

The Pokémon Center doors slid open, and Geoff immediately jumped up. Ryan looked over and sighed in relief, seeing the soaked younger Trainer being fussed over by the older. He ran over in time to watch Geoff pull his scarf off and wrap it around the dark haired.

“Are you okay?” he asked. “What the hell happened?”

Ray looked up at him and swallowed. “I-I…” He blinked away tears and looked at the floor. “I’m sorry…”

Ryan turned and started to run towards the stairs. “I’ll go get a towel. I’ll be sure to tell the others while I’m up there!”

Once he was gone, Geoff placed a hand on Ray’s back as softly as he could and guided him to the bench they’d been at moments ago. They sat next to each other, and Geoff eventually broke the silence quietly.

“So do you want to talk about it?” he gently inquired. “The thing that happened at the gym?”

Ray shut his eyes; if he hadn’t have cried so much before, he surely would have been now. He almost broke down and told the older everything, from the anxiety disorder to his insecurities to his panicking today, but held back and shook his head instead. It was easier this way.

“Alright,” Geoff whispered. “That’s okay. You don’t have to. Are you okay now, though?”

A smile twitched at the younger’s lips, and he nodded. “I’m fine,” he lowly replied.

The older grinned and nodded. “Great. Alright.”

The conversation didn’t go any further, as Ryan came back down with a fluffy, dark blue towel in his hands. “Do you guys want to come up to our room?” he asked. “I made sure the other guys would stay out for a while so you won’t get overwhelmed.”

Ray smiled in thanks and followed the two upstairs.

_Why did I think this was going to be hard? How could I have forgotten how gentle they are with me?_

There were times when Ray hated how he was treated like a ticking time bomb, like if they got too close he would explode and scare everyone around him. This was not one of those moments; the careful steps and words were enough of a relief that the tense feeling in most of his muscles was evaporating slowly.

Geoff caught the relieved smile on Ray’s face, and he gently put an arm around him. “Is it alright if I do this?”

The younger nodded, and they stayed like that until they reached the room.

Once they got in, Geoff immediately pulled his arm away as Ryan threw the towel around the youngest. They made him sit on one of the three beds, and Geoff quickly turned and headed towards the door.

“I’ll go get some dry clothes for him,” he said to Ryan. Before anyone could reply, he slipped across the hall into the Lads’ room.

The moment he shut the door, there was two pairs of footsteps dashing towards him. He turned and was nearly smashed into the wall by a pair of smaller members of the crew.

“Is he okay?”

“How is he?”

“What happened to him?”

“He’s going to be alright, isn’t he?”

Geoff held up his hands and laughed. “Hold your dicks, guys! Fucking calm down!” he exclaimed. Both fell silent and still; Jack got up and walked over to the three as the oldest continued. “We’re pretty sure he’s alright. Pretty fucking wet, yeah, but fine. I don’t think he wants to talk about what happened just yet, anyways. I only came in here to grab his bag.”

Gavin perked up. “I can get that!”

He raced over to the furthest of the three beds, leaping onto it to reach to the other side. When he sat up, he held the red, one-strap backpack in his hands, and he hurried back to hand it to the Trainer.

“Are you going to have him spend the night in your room?” Jack asked. “He can take my bed if you need him to.”

Geoff shook his head. “Nah, I think he’ll be alright as long as these assholes don’t go crazy on him,” he replied. “You got that? Don’t push him when he comes over, understand?”

The Lads and Growlithe all nodded, and the older gave a satisfied smile.

“Good. I’ll talk to you guys in a bit.”

With that, he left and hurried back to room 318. Everything was just as he’d left it- Ray was sat on the middle bed, and Ryan on the one closer to the balcony. They both looked up when they heard the door close, and Geoff held up the bag with a smirk.

“Want some dry clothes, kid?” he inquired.

With a weaker smile, Ray got up, leaving the towel on the bed, and took his bag into his own hands. “Is it okay if I use your guys’ bathroom to change?”

Ryan looked at him. “Absolutely. You want to take the towel so you can dry off a little more?”

Ray nodded and took the towel before slipping into the bathroom as quickly as he could, leaving Geoff and Ryan to themselves.

The oldest glanced at the bathroom door, then went and sat on the bed closest to it. “Anything happen while I was gone?”

The Pokémon Breeder shook his head. “Nothing except me trying to get him to open up a little. I couldn’t get anything to work.”

Geoff sighed. “Mew, I wish he would at least tell us something. Maybe it wouldn’t happen again if he’d say something.”

“Something weird’s been going on with him lately,” Ryan said softly after a beat of silence. “He didn’t act like this before we got to Salubrity Town, except for when he first met Michael and me. Even then, it wasn’t like he was crying and running off on a regular basis.”

“I wouldn’t call it a regular basis yet. It’s only happened twice, right?”

He nodded. “Right, and for whatever reason they both happened when you were here.”

The older frowned. “…You don’t think it’s my fault, do you?”

“No, no, not at all!” Ryan quickly interjected. “I really don’t think it’s you, honest. I was thinking that maybe he’s just really shy, plus maybe he’s really overwhelmed because I assume this is his first time traveling on a Pokémon Journey.”

Geoff hummed in agreement. “That does actually make a lot of sense… He did seem pretty fucking spooked when we first met.”

Ryan raised an eyebrow at him and crossed his arms. “Well, you weren’t exactly the most friendly thing, either.”

The older laughed nervously and scratched the back of his neck. “Eh, yeah, that was my fault…”

He rolled his eyes and waved it off. “Yeah, whatever. Just know that you’ll be paying for that later.”

“Wait, what?”

“Hm?”

Geoff raised an eyebrow. “You said I’ll be paying for it later…”

“No, I didn’t,” he quickly responded with a smirk.

They didn’t break eye contact for a moment, until the older shook his head.

“Ryan, you are one creepy mother fucker.”

Before the younger could respond, the bathroom door opened and a much drier Ray timidly walked back into the room. He clutched the wet clothes tightly in his hands and shifted awkwardly between his feet.

“What should I-?”

Ryan got up and gently took them out of his hands. “I’ll just lay these on one of those chairs over there, okay?”

Ray nodded, and the next thing he knew, Geoff was wrapping an arm around him and pulling him to the bed. “Come here, I want to talk.”

With a gulp, the younger did as told, and was soon sat next to the oldest on the bed closest to the door. He bit his lip and grabbed the hem of his dark blue t-shirt, twirling it in his fingers as he waited for Geoff to start.

“Look, I know you said that you don’t want to talk about it,” he began, “But I would really, really like to know what made you run out of the battle today. You could have just forfeited and gone back to the Pokémon Center with us, but you ran off to Mew knows where until now. Why did you do that?”

Ray frowned and looked at the floor, every possible answer flashing through his mind.

_I have an anxiety disorder and was having an anxiety attack and didn’t want you guys to see._

_It was a fight or flight reaction, and I guess I chose flight._

_I didn’t want to see you guys realizing how weak and pathetic I am._

_I have an anxiety disorder and I wasn’t thinking straight because of it._

_I have an anxiety disorder and I didn’t want to have to explain myself because then you all would hate me._

_I have an anxiety disorder and I panicked._

_I have an anxiety disorder._

_I have an anxiety disorder._

_I have an anxiety disorder._

Instead of any of his thoughts, he swallowed and shook his head, ignoring the prickling in his eyes returning yet again. “I don’t know,” he whispered.

“How can you not know?” Ryan asked from across the room. “You did know you were doing it, right?”

Ray felt his throat closing in on him, and he shut his eyes tightly to avoid crying yet again in front of the older two. He heard a sigh coming from Geoff.

“Ryan.”

“Sorry… I didn’t mean it like that, honestly.”

“Could you go with the other guys in the Lads’ room? I just want to talk to Ray alone for a few minutes.”

There was a beat of silence.

“Yeah, sure. Sorry.”

After a moment, there was the sound of a door opening and closing. A hand on his shoulder is what convinced Ray to open his eyes. He looked up and saw Geoff watching him worriedly.

“You okay?”

Ray swallowed and nodded, looking away at the next bed over. Geoff leaned back a little and smiled.

“You’re not going to cry or something are you? Because if you are, I’m going to have to force you to talk about it, and I don’t think either of us are willing to do that.”

The younger laughed brokenly and shook his head. “N-No, I’m okay.”

Geoff grinned and reached over to muss his hair. “Great.” There was a moment while they gave each other cheerful looks, until the older’s smile slowly faded away. “So… You don’t know why you ran off then?”

Ray’s look diminished into one that was forlorn. “I… No.”

“But you know where you went, right?”

He nodded slowly. “I-I went to Cinder Park. I was in a part of it that I don’t think any of us went to. There was no one there, so I just stayed there for a while… I’m sorry.”

Geoff shrugged and smirked. “It’s alright. There’s nothing to be sorry for. As long as you’re okay now.”

Ray was quiet, but a smile formed on his face. The older shifted and put an arm around the younger.

“You know… If you ever need to talk about anything, you can come to me, okay? I’ll try to help in any way I can, promise. Don’t forget that, alright?”

The younger finally looked up at the older, and after a hesitant moment, he nodded. Geoff smiled and pulled him into a quick hug before giving him a gentle shove on the shoulder.

“Okay then, asshole. Want to come with me to save Ryan and Jack from the other two morons?”

Ray laughed. “Yeah. I might stay over there, though. I’m kind of tired.”

Geoff stood up and started to walk to the door. “That’s okay. I fucking expected that.”

The younger Trainer scurried up to meet Geoff at the door before he could leave. “Hey, Geoff?”

The older stopped and raised an eyebrow. “What’s up, buddy?”

He swallowed and looked at his shoes. “Do you… Do you think I’ll be allowed to challenge the gym again?”

Geoff kept his eyes on him for a moment before smiling gently and putting a hand on Ray’s head. “Absolutely, you can. Just promise me you’ll do it when you’re ready, okay? Don’t go for it when you’re not just because someone set it up for you. I’m really sorry about that, by the way.”

“It’s okay,” Ray said as he looked up. “You didn’t know. It’s alright.”

He didn’t wait before turning and opening the door, slipping out into the hall and pausing outside of room 317. The older followed calmly and pushed open the door. Immediately, Gavin and Michael perked up; when Ray walked in, they both rushed over.

“Oh my Mew, you’re alright!”

“Are you okay? What the fuck happened?”

Gavin grabbed the youngest and pulled him into a hug. “Oh, thank Mew, I really thought something had happened to you…!”

With a swallow and a shaky smile, Ray timidly returned the gesture. “I’m fine, guys, really…”

Geoff crossed his arms and glared at the two. “Didn’t I tell you guys not to flip out? Calm your fucking dickholes!”

Gavin pulled away at the words, but Michael quickly grabbed the youngest’s arm and pulled him further into the room.

“Come on, we were just going to start another movie,” he informed. “You can pick if you’d want!”

As the Lads settled in front of the television, the Gents gathered together near the door.

“So what happened?” Jack asked. “Did you find out why he ran off?”

Geoff shook his head. “He said he didn’t know, but… I’m not sure I believe that. All that he said was that he ran to Cinder Park.”

Ryan hummed in understanding. “That was it?”

“That’s it.”

“Is he okay now?” the Breeder asked in a lower voice.

The oldest turned his focus to the dark haired and watched. Growlithe jumped into his lap where he sat cross legged on the floor, and after the initial flinch, he smiled and started petting it. Gavin leaned down from where he was laying on his stomach on the middle bed and was pressing some buttons on the remote as he spoke to the youngest. Michael occasionally added to the conversation, and other times would hit Gavin with a pillow. Geoff observed Ray laughing, and smiled at the sight.

“Yeah. Yeah, I think he’s okay.” He turned and headed out of the room. “I think we should leave them alone for a little while. He needs to relax for a while, and I don’t think six of us in one room’s going to help with that.”

The other two nodded and followed him out, shutting the door softly enough that it took the Lads a while to realize they had even left.

 

* * *

 

 

A couple of hours later, after Ray had fallen asleep and the other two managed to get him into bed, Gavin, Michael, and Growlithe were sitting on the balcony in a hushed conversation.

“Okay, okay, so you get twenty thousand quid, but every time you sneeze, you change genders. Would you do it?” Gavin asked.

Michael raised an eyebrow. “Change gender or sex?”

“What?”

“There’s a difference,” he explained. “Gender is what you identify as. Sex is whether you have a dick or not.”

“Oh.” He sat for a moment, pondering the question. “Alright, every time you sneeze, you change sexes. Would you-?”

“Fuck no. I wouldn’t do that for a billion fucking dollars.”

Growlithe jumped into Michael’s lap as Gavin held up his hands. “Alright, Mew damn. Why not?”

“Because I don’t want fucking boobs, Gav!” he hissed. “Is it really that fucking hard to comprehend?”

“Bloody hell, what do you have against women? First you don’t like them, now you don’t want to be one…” His face suddenly faded into one of understanding. “Oh.”

“What?”

“Oh, I get it.”

“Get what? Gavin, what the fuck are you talking about?”

The Gubbin City native looked at the Almia native with a knowing smirk on his face. “You’re gay.”

“W-W-What?! Gavin, _no_!” he shrieked, forgetting about the sleeping Trainer just inside. “I am _not_ gay!”

Gavin laughed and shook his head. “I know, boi, I’m just messing with you! Mew damn, are you really that homophobic?”

Michael pressed his lips together, leaning back. “I’m not homophobic at all. I don’t give a fuck about who loves who. I’m just not gay. I like girls, Gav.”

“But when we were at the park-”

“I said I don’t have time for a girlfriend, not that I don’t want one.”

“No, you said it was a waste of time!”

“Because that’s how I feel about love!” He sighed and looked away. “Let’s just change the fucking subject, can we?”

Gavin yawned and stood up. “I actually think I’m going to go to bed,” he said quietly. “Don’t stay up too late, alright, my little Mi-cool?”

“I’m not little, you fucktard,” Michael replied with a glare, “But yeah, I’ll come in soon.”

The Pokémon Photographer smiled at him and slipped inside, shutting the door quietly; the Ranger sighed and started petting Growlithe slowly.

“I’m not gay,” he breathed. “You know that, right, Growlithe?”

It whimpered and snuggled into his stomach. He smiled weakly and looked at the dark sky.

“Just wish people at home would get that… And Pokémon. Pokémon especially.”

Growlithe frowned and leaped off of Michael, running to the door and pawing at it. The Pokémon Ranger stood and smiled tiredly.

“You want to go inside?”

It nodded, and Michael silently laughed.

“Alright, bud. Let’s go to bed.”

With that, the two headed inside, ready to finally get some rest before whatever tomorrow held for the journey to continue.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed! Thanks for the read! :D
> 
> Anybody catch the (originally unintentional) Classic One Direction Fanfiction reference I threw in there? It's right around the obvious-if-you've-seen-S12 RvB Reference~ (If you've read the fic I'm talking about, it'll be pretty obvious. And an emotional slap in the face.)
> 
> Also please point out any mistakes if you see them! <3
> 
> Ryan's song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qu4v5hB1dKk
> 
> Thanks again! <3


	16. Rematch at the Entity City Gym!!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Despite being a little under the weather, Ray insists on challenging Brandon again and getting his second attempt at receiving the Epsilon Badge.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beacon Region Map: http://sweetiecurfyart.tumblr.com/post/111232399174/here-it-is-a-map-of-the-beacon-region-used#notes
> 
> Brandon's Design: http://sweetiecurfyart.tumblr.com/post/118836142064/entity-city-gym-leader-brandon-farmahini-finally
> 
> Art can be found here: sweetiecurfyart.tumblr.com
> 
> And, what the hell... For updates, follow me on Twitter under @Sweetie_Curfy

The morning came, and the Lads were all awoken early when a string of coughs filled their ears. Michael, Gavin, and Growlithe all sat up a little and looked at each other; Ray sat up and bent over, trying to get his throat to stop burning and his chest to stop heaving. Michael was quick to climb out of bed and get to his side, hitting him on the back just hard enough to help him stop coughing.

Once the sound had ceased, Ray looked at the older. “Thanks,” he rasped out. “Sorry.”

“For what? Coughing? It’s not that big of a fucking deal, relax.” Michael stood up straight and rubbed his face tiredly. “Gavin, what time is it?”

The only one with twenty-twenty vision in the room turned to the alarm clock on one of the night stands. “Six fifty-three. Mew damn, it’s early…” He flopped down onto his back and rolled over, pulling the blankets over his head.

Michael rolled his eyes and turned to the youngest. “You want me to get you some water or something?”

Ray shook his head, climbing out of bed. “I can get it,” he said quietly. As soon as he was on his feet, he stumbled and had to grab onto the bed in order to stay standing. Michael sighed and went to the other side of the bed, gently pushing him back in.

“Fuck no. I’ll go get it for you, okay? Just stay here.”

The Trainer did as told, having no energy left in him to argue as he watched the older grab his glasses and walk to the bathroom.

Ray rubbed his eyes and took a deep breath. He absolutely felt like he was coming down with something, and he had the feeling it had something to do with getting soaked both times he went to the park, and the sudden increase of stress he’d had in the past weeks. His head was pounding, throat burning, and he felt like he could throw up at any minute, not to mention the chills that were shaking his entire body.*

He wasn’t going to let anyone know, though, if he could help it. He didn’t want people to be fussing over him, and surely it would go away eventually.

Michael was soon walking back out, holding a paper cup of water and blinking the sleep out of his eyes. “Here.”

After a quick word of thanks, Ray took the cup and managed to sip just a little bit out of it before another coughing fit took over. The older frowned and took the water back in order to prevent it from spilling. He suppressed the urge to punch Gavin when he heard the Photographer groaning under the covers.

Once he set the cup aside, he started to hit the Trainer on the back again until he calmed down. When he could finally breathe again, the Ranger noticed the sweat forming on his forehead and the dark bags under his eyes. He turned and shook Gavin.

“The bloody hell do you want, Mi-cool…?”

“Gavin, go get Jack.”

There was a pause before the covers were ripped away, revealing a concerned, shirtless Gavin. “What? Why? Is Ray alright?”

“I think he’s sick. Just go get him, would you?”

Without even taking the time to put on a shirt, the Photographer rushed out of bed and into the hall. Ray swallowed and shut his eyes, internally yelling at himself for not being more subtle about it.

 

* * *

 

 

The Gents were awoken that morning when their door slammed open and Gavin came running in, hollering quite loudly, “I need Jack. Where’s Jack?!”

The Pokémon Doctor groaned and rolled over, putting his glasses on and looking at the younger. “Why? Is something wrong?”

“Gavin, what the fuck is going on?” Geoff asked as he sat up.

The Pokémon Photographer frowned and looked at the floor. “Mi-cool thinks that Ray’s sick.”

Ryan rubbed his eyes. “With what? Is he throwing up?”

“No, just coughing.”

Jack sighed. “If he’s just coughing, that doesn’t automatically mean that he’s coming down with something…” Regardless, he climbed out of bed and followed the younger out of the room.

Geoff and Ryan glanced at each other. “Was Gavin…?” Ryan began. Geoff cut him off.

“He had pants on. Relax.”

 

* * *

 

 

When Jack and Gavin were coming in, Ray was in the middle of a third coughing fit. Michael had sat down next to him and done as he had the first two times; the moment he saw the other two, he let out a sigh of relief and nodded his head toward the younger.

“I think he’s got a fever, plus the coughing and shit,” he stated. The oldest hurried over and handed the Trainer the water before nodding at the Ranger.

“It definitely looks like he’s got something.”

After a moment, Ray was finally catching his breath and recovering from the fit. Jack made him lean back as he placed the back of his hand on his forehead. A frown came very quickly afterwards.

“Yeah… Definitely a fever,” he sighed. “It’s nothing to worry about, I don’t think, but it’s also not something to ignore, either.”

“So does that mean we’re going to have a day to just sit around and watch movies again?”

The group turned at the voice and watched as Geoff and Ryan walked in, with Ryan stretching his arms above his head and Geoff rubbing his face. Jack scratched at his beard in thought.

“It probably wouldn’t hurt, but I don’t think it’d completely necessary,” he answered with a shrug.

Michael reached over and grabbed Ray’s glasses, handing them to the youngest before climbing off of the bed. “He probably shouldn’t exactly push himself, though, either, right?”

Ray put on his glasses, and as soon as they were on, he winced a little. After he blinked the pain away, he looked at the older five and said, “Guys, I’m fine, really…”

“Bullshit!” Michael snapped. Ray shrunk in on himself a bit and looked away.

“Mi-cool, don’t be mean to X Ray!” Gavin whined. “He’s ill!”

“He’s going to be a lot fucking worse if he’s acting like that!”

“What, shy? When is he not bloody shy?”

“Not that! Like he’s completely fucking okay!”

“I think it’s a great idea! That’s how I get rid of it when I’m feeling mingy. I just say that I’m not doing it, and then I don’t get sick! It’s that easy!”

“That has got to be the dumbest fucking thing I have ever-!”

“That’s _enough_!”

All three Lads flinched and looked at Ryan, who was crossing his arms and glaring at the Photographer and Ranger.

“Ray’s sick, and that’s all that we need to know,” he growled, “So stop your fucking fighting or he’s going to get stressed and even worse.”

The youngest swallowed and tipped his head down, pulling his knees up to his chest and wishing that they would just change the subject away from him for a little while. Geoff seemed to pick up on this, and he did as needed.

“Can we talk about this at breakfast or something? I’m fucking starving!”

Jack looked at Ray. “Think you can handle some food?”

The youngest nodded and jumped out of bed, grabbing onto Jack for just a moment before steadying himself and heading towards the door. The others glanced at each other with a humored look and followed him quietly.

 

* * *

 

 

Gavin frowned as he inspected a piece of his food. “Geoff?”

The oldest looked up. “What?”

“Would you rather-”

Michael groaned loudly and looked at the ceiling. “No. Fuck no. We are not starting this shit again.”

“Just one, Mi-cool!”

“No! Just fucking zero!” he snapped. “I’m sick of your fucking dumbass ‘would you rather’ questions!”

Gavin whined and leaned back against the booth; Geoff looked at the Pokémon Ranger and raised an eyebrow.

“What are you getting all pissy about? It was just a question.”

Michael shook his head. “Except it’s not! He’s been asking this shit for, like, fucking two days straight!”

“I thought you liked them!” Gavin retorted.

“I did until you asked fucking two billion of them!”

The Photographer crossed his arms and smirked. “Is it because I asked if you were gay last night?”

The older glared and turned back to his food. “I’m not gay,” he grumbled.

Ryan sighed and looked at Ray, taking note of the fact that he only had a cup of juice but not saying anything about it. “So, are you still planning on challenging the gym at all?” he asked, being sure that the rest of the table could hear the change of subject.

The youngest shifted in his seat and nodded. “I was actually going to ask you guys if it’d be alright if I did that today,” he stated. His voice was a bit hoarse from the coughing earlier, and the sound made Growlithe jump from Michael’s lap into Ray’s.

The Gents all stopped at the request coming from the younger Trainer, while the other two Lads both gave him a questioning look. Michael scoffed a little.

“Are you fucking serious?” he laughed.

Ray swallowed and curled in on himself. “Y-Yeah…”

Jack glanced up, sending him a concerned gaze. “You do remember that you’re sick, right?”

“Well, yeah, but I think I can handle it,” he responded quietly.

“What about what happened yesterday?” Gavin asked. “What if it happens again?”

Ray took a moment to reevaluate his mental state for the third time since they’d sat down to eat. Right now, there were no terrified thoughts entering his head. He wasn’t nervous about sitting so close to Michael, and anytime he made contact with someone, there was no electricity zapping through his veins. When he lifted his hand, he saw that there were no tremors shaking it; his mind was almost completely clear of fog, and if it hadn’t been for the fever, it was potentially the most clear it had ever been. The only feeling in his chest was that of needing to cough, which he ignored in favor of convincing the rest of the crew that he was alright.

He looked up and smiled at the Pokémon Photographer. “It won’t,” he confidently replied. “I’m sure of it.”

“But you said yourself that you don’t know what it was,” Ryan retorted. “How can you know it won’t happen if you don’t even know that?”

Geoff sighed and broke in. “Alright, assholes, leave him alone. The kid says he’s good to battle, so just let him battle! Arceus, it’s like you guys are all his mother or something…”

Ray looked at Jack for confirmation that he would be able to do this; the Pokémon Doctor let out a deep breath when he saw the innocent gaze the younger was giving him.

“Well, it might stress him out, which would make him worse,” he informed, “But I guess we can’t exactly stop you, can we?”

The youngest grinned.

 

* * *

 

 

It wasn’t long before the group was standing in front of the gym again, gazing up at the tall building. Geoff slapped a hand on Ray’s shoulder, causing him to jump before looking at the oldest. He ignored the flinch and looked down at him.

“Are you ready?”

Ray nodded. “Absolutely.”

“And you made that decision on your own, right? You didn’t just make it so you could get the battle over with already?”

He smiled and looked back up at the building. “Yeah, I thought it over last night. Last time I just panicked, but if I’m calm, I think I’ll be able to take care of it.”

Geoff crossed his arms and smirked. “So you _do_ know what caused you to freak out yesterday, then?”

The blood drained out of Ray’s face as he snapped around to look at the older Trainer. “I-I-”

He laughed quietly and punched him lightly on the shoulder. “Relax. Don’t get your nerves up right before the battle, if that’s what you need to win!”

Ray swallowed and nodded, turning back to face the doors. “Right,” he whispered, “Just relax. It’s not that hard, right?”

With that, he walked forward calmly and entered the gym, immediately looking around to find the leader. The others followed him in and did the same.

He took a deep breath and called out, “Hello?”

A door opened loudly to the left of the group; Michael and Gavin snorted at how hard Ray flinched, then turned their attention to the source of the noise.

Brandon came walking over, a bold look on his face. “Back so soon?” he asked cockily. “Is this going to be a repeat of last time, or are you actually going to try this time?”

“Alright, asshole,” Geoff grumbled, heading towards the gym leader before Ryan grabbed his arm. “It was his first gym battle, you fuck! Leave him alone!”

“That’s not a good excuse,” Brandon scoffed. “Clearly he wasn’t ready to face anything yet, let alone a gym battle.”

Ray stood up straight and forced his hands to stay at his sides. “I’m ready now,” he said. “I won’t leave this time.”

Brandon stared at him for a moment, then smirked and started walking to the other side of the pool.

“Alright. Let’s get this over with.”

The two Trainers glanced at each other with a grin; Geoff placed a hand on his back and gently shoved him forward.

“Well? Get up there, asshole!”

Ray laughed and ran up to his side of the pool as the others made their way up to the bleachers. Brandon called one of the swimmers over, and they were soon placed for battle.

Brandon was quick to send out his Pokémon. “Staryu, let’s get this over with!”

Ray was eager to catch up. “Cyndaquil, go! We can do this!”

“Is he a fucking moron?!” Geoff gasped. “It’s going to be fucking murdered!”

“The Entity City’s next Pokémon battle is about to begin! The gym leader, Brandon’s, challenger today is Ray from Nucom Village! Each Trainer will have the use of two Pokémon, and the battle will only be over when one Trainer loses both. Only the challenger may switch out his Pokémon.” He turned to the challenger. “Ray, are you ready?”

“Yeah, I’m good!”

“Brandon, are you ready?”

“As ever!”

The swimmer nodded and held up an arm. “Battle begin!”

Ray didn’t even hesitate before yelling, “Use Tackle!”

Cyndaquil rushed up to Staryu and slammed its body into it, knocking it off of the platform and into the water. Brandon held out his hand.

“Rapid Spin, go!”

Before anyone could react, the Water Type Pokémon sliced out of the pool and hit the Fire Type, sending it flying into the air.

“Quick, from up there, use Ember!”

The small flames flew from Cyndaquil’s mouth, and the added force gravity gave them landed a harder impact onto Staryu. It cringed and stepped back

“Bubble Beam!”

As soon as the flames stopped, Cyndaquil landed on a platform just in time to be knocked back by a large stream of bubbles. It nearly fell into the water, but it caught itself right on the edge.

“Tackle, again!”

“Counter it with Rapid Spin!”

The two Pokémon slammed into each other, each causing a decent amount of damage before they landed on platforms opposite of each other.

“How the hell hasn’t Cyndaquil been beaten yet?” Gavin asked Jack quietly. “It’s fire against water! It’s almost pre-determined!”

“I guess Cyndaquil’s a lot stronger than it let on,” Jack replied. “Maybe it’s actually got a chance against Staryu.”

They watched as Ray prepared to call out an attack, but was overcome by a fit of coughs much like he had earlier in the morning. The others winced in sympathy.

“And maybe X Ray’s weaker than he’s making it seem,” Gavin sighed. Jack could only nod in response. Gavin suddenly leaned forward and turned himself so he was facing Ryan. “Ten quid Ray wins!”

“Ten? It was five last time!” the Breeder exclaimed. He then sighed and leaned back. “Yeah, whatever.”

As soon as he recovered, Ray threw his hand out and shouted, “Ember!”

“Dodge it!”

Cyndaquil sent the attack towards Staryu, but it jumped up before it could hit.

Brandon pointed at the Fire Type. “Now, Hydro Pump!”

From the air, Staryu shot a blast of water towards the platform Ray’s Pokémon was on. The Trainer let his mind snap through some thoughts before yelling.

“Get to the platform to your right!” he commanded.

It made it out of the way just in time, flinching when it heard the platform being forced underwater by the attack. When it turned, it crouched and sent Staryu a confident glare.

“Now use Tackle!”

Just as the gym leader’s Pokémon landed on its platform, it was knocked into the pool. Cyndaquil nearly fell in as well, but it caught its balance at the last second.

“Bubble Beam, from underwater!”

The bubbles came so fast that Ray didn’t have time to call out an attack, let alone for Cyndaquil to dodge. It was sent flying and thankfully landed on a platform near its Trainer.

“Cyndaquil, are you okay?” There was no movement coming from the Pokémon. “Cyndaquil?”

In the stands, while they were all worried over the reaction, Geoff was very clearly the most tense of the group. He stared at the fallen Pokémon with a risen fear in his eyes.

_He took a step back in panic. “…Empoleon?”_

_The Pokémon was eerily still; it seemed like everything was in slow motion by the time he took one step forward._

_“Empoleon!”_

_The stadium was dead silent as he ran to the fallen Pokémon._

It took an elbow bumping his shoulder to knock him out of the flashback. He turned to look at Gavin, who was giving him a questioning yet concerned look.

“Are you alright?” he asked, softly enough that the others couldn’t hear.

With a swallow and a shaky breath, Geoff nodded. “Yeah, fine.”

“Are you sure? You don’t look it.”

Geoff ignored the question in favor of watching the battle.

The swimmer on the side stared at Cyndaquil for a moment before lifting his arm towards Brandon. “Cyndaquil is unable to…”

Ray gasped and yelled, “No, no, wait! Look, it’s still okay!”

Everyone turned their attention to the Fire Type and watched as it slowly and painfully made its way back onto its feet. Once it was up, it gave a cry of determination and let the flames on its back flare up. Geoff stood with an awed look on his face.

“What the fuck?! That should have knocked it out!”

“Yes!” Ray cheered. “Yeah, we’ve got this!”

Brandon leaned back a bit and crossed his arms. “Huh, maybe this kid is stronger than I thought,” he mumbled. He then shook himself out of it and held out a hand. “Whatever, I’ll still kick your ass! Staryu, Rapid Spin!”

“Don’t dodge it yet,” Ray said lowly as the Star Shaped Pokémon came closer. It nodded and waited for further instruction.

“What’s he doing?” Michael asked furiously. “It just made it past that last attack! Is he trying to kill Cyndaquil or some shit?!”

Geoff was lost for words. “I… I don’t…”

As soon as Staryu was inches away from the Fire Type, Ray threw out his hand and yelled, “Ember!”

Cyndaquil reacted immediately and shot the flames into Staryu. The force pushed it away, through the air, and directly into Brandon, knocking them both to the floor. The Gym Leader sat up and looked at his Pokémon before sighing and shaking his head at the swimmer.

“Staryu is unable to battle! Cyndaquil is the winner!”

Geoff sat down and crossed his arms. “Well, that was definitely against the fucking odds.”

Ray inhaled to start cheering, but a coughing fit beat him to the punch, and he doubled over to recover. Once done, he looked at Cyndaquil as it jumped off of its platform and to his feet.

“Nice job, Cyndaquil!” he laughed hoarsely. “You absolutely deserve a break.” He pulled out its PokeBall and put it in before taking out a second one and turning towards Brandon.

“Are you ready for the next battle?” the Gym Leader asked.

The younger Trainer nodded and threw the PokeBall. “Budew, you’re up!”

The Bud Pokémon landed on its platform with a small battle cry. Brandon was quick to send out his Tentacool, and within seconds the battle had begun.

“Budew, Absorb!”

“Under the water!”

Before the pale green beam could hit the Jellyfish Pokémon, it disappeared into the pool. Both Ray and Budew stood still, waiting for it to come back.

Brandon held out his hand. “Poison Jab!”

Ray noticed the movement of the water near Budew and yelled, “Behind you!”

As Tentacool launched itself out of the water, Budew turned, yelping when a tentacle jabbed into its gut and knocked it onto another platform. Ray winced, watching closely as the Bud Pokémon got back up.

“Absorb again!”

This time, Budew was much quicker, and the beam hit Tentacool just as it was landing back in the water. It flinched a bit, but recovered surprisingly fast.

“Use Poison Sting!” the Gym Leader yelled.

“Jump to dodge!”

As Budew leapt away from the purple barbs flying at it, Ray felt himself beginning to shake, although he knew it wasn’t from anxiety this time.

_I’ve never felt like this before,_ he thought. _This is… fucking amazing!_

“Now, Absorb, again!”

_I want to do this forever! I’ve never felt so ecstatic in my life!_

“Underwater!” Brandon yelled. “Now, Water Pulse!”

“Jump onto different platforms to confuse it!”

_This is what I want to do with my life._

Budew leapt from platform to platform with no fear as the water blasts shot them into the air.

_No anxiety…_

“Now, Absorb!”

_No fears…_

The beam hit the water and submerged, casting a soft glow in the pool.

_Just confidence…_

“Use Wrap!”

_Is this what it’s like to be normal?_

As Tentacool shot out of the water, Ray held out his hand.

“Stun Spore!”

Just as the Jellyfish Pokémon was above Budew, the Grass Type opened the bud on the top of its head and let the powder explode over the opponent. It froze and fell to the platform, unable to move.

“Shit! Tentacool, Poison Sting!” Brandon hollered.

From where it was, it managed to hold up a tentacle and use the attack; the barbs hit Budew, and it stumbled back in pain.

Ray winced. “Budew, are you okay?”

It was shaking, but it nodded regardless.

Jack sat up a little straighter. “Oh shit,” he mumbled. Michael raised an eyebrow at him.

“’Oh shit’ what?” he asked. “What’s wrong?”

“Look.” He pointed to Budew. “See how it’s shaking? That’s a definite sign that it’s poisoned. Now look at its leg.”

Michael leaned forward to get a closer look. “It’s… cut?”

Jack nodded. “Right, and it looks pretty deep, doesn’t it?”

“Yeah?”

“Look closer. You see that it’s got a bit of purple around the edges? That’s another sign, one that’s a lot more definite than the shaking.”

“So what you’re saying is…” Michael trailed off, imagining the fate of Budew after the battle.

Jack nodded. “Right. Ray’s pretty fucked.”

The Trainer on the battlefield pointed to the paralyzed Pokémon. “Absorb!”

Instead of Budew shooting out a pale, green beam, a strong, dark, neon green beam was shot onto Tentacool, knocking it into the water while still keeping it encapsulated.

Geoff threw his hands into the air. “What the fuck?! That’s not a fucking Absorb attack!”

Budew’s strength rapidly replenished, and although the effects of poisoning didn’t quite wear off, it definitely was more prepared to finish the battle.

Brandon’s fists clenched, and he yelled, “We’re not going down yet! Tentacool, Poison Jab!”

There was no movement in the water; the air was thick with tension as they waited.

“Tentacool! Didn’t you hear me? Poison Jab!”

After a moment, the Jellyfish Pokémon floated to the surface. It hardly moved, showing it was unconscious.

“Tentacool is unable to battle! Budew is the winner! So, the challenger Ray wins the match!”

Ray screamed and jumped, the grin plastered on his face growing wider when he heard the other guys making the same reaction. Budew sped to its Trainer, and he picked it up quickly. It shoved its face into his chest, causing him to hold it tighter.

Brandon sighed and shook his head, putting Tentacool back into its PokeBall and making his way over to the Trainer. “Hey, come with me.”

The younger blinked as the Gym Leader walked off, but his swiftly put Budew back in its PokeBall and followed. In the stands, the others were getting ready to leave as they watched him.

“Where’s he taking him?” Gavin asked quietly.

Michael reached over and punched his arm. “To give him the badge, dumbass! The same place he took Geoff!”

“Arceus, Gav…,” Geoff sighed.

Gavin laughed. “Right, forgot about that.”

 

* * *

 

 

Brandon led Ray from the main room into a long hallway, and from there into a small, overly cluttered room that was separated by a thin curtain. The Trainer looked around and caught sight of a wide variety of things, including posters, helmets from what seemed to be space armor, and many different gaming consoles.

The Gym Leader stepped over to a bin and began to rummage through it while Ray kept glancing around. At one point, he grabbed the handle of a mug to pick it up and jumped when it promptly snapped off. Looking closer, he saw that there was some substance securing the mug onto the shelf, and he wrinkled his nose when he realized that it definitely wasn’t glue.

“Ray.”

He jumped again and whipped around, holding the mug handle behind his back. Brandon held out his hand, revealing the badge that was now at least slightly familiar to Ray. In the other hand, he held a cloth bag that appeared to be full of the same badge.

Tentatively, the Trainer took the badge out of Brandon’s hand, managing to keep the mug handle behind his back.

“That’s the Epsilon Badge,” he explained. “Is this your first gym battle?”

He nodded.

“Hm, that explains why you ran off yesterday,” Brandon mumbled. He then regained his composure and continued. “Alright, so basically now that you’ve won a gym battle, you get that badge as proof. Once you get eight of those, you can go challenge the Elite Four and stuff, and trust me, don’t even try it without eight. They’ll kick you out of there fast as fuck.” He shrugged. “So, yeah. Congrats and all of that shit.”

With that, he headed out of the room. Ray quickly put the mug handle into the mug before chasing after him.

 

* * *

 

 

By the time he got outside, Gavin and Michael were on the ground wrestling while the Gents were attempting to get them to relax and Growlithe was standing next to them and barking. Gavin was the first to see Ray, and he scurried up to get to him.

“So did you get your Epsilon Badge?!”

His hands were beginning to shake a bit now that the adrenaline from the battle was wearing off, so he gripped it tightly as he held it up with a nod. Geoff was over in an instant and took it out of his hands.

“Huh, congrats, buddy! It’s just like mine!” he pointed out. Ray smiled weakly and looked at the ground with a deep breath.

Gavin laughed. “You guys match now!”

Michael made his was over and looked at the object. “Nice,” he said. “And that battle was pretty fucking impressive, too!”

“Yeah, and now I owe Gavin fifteen squids,” Ryan remembered with a sigh.

“Fifteen _quid_ , Ry!”

“I hear no difference.”

Geoff quickly cut them off as he grabbed Ray’s arm and pulled him aside. When he was given a questioning look, he held up a pair of permanent markers- one green, one purple. He then jerked his head to reference the sign next to the door.

“Let’s sign it,” he said.

It took a moment, but as soon as the words registered, Ray was raising an eyebrow at him. “What? Why?”

He shrugged. “It’s just always been a tradition of mine. Any time I beat a gym, I sign it. I don’t want to stop now, and I figured since you beat it too, we could both sign.”

The younger paused and looked at the sign before giving a weak smile and nodding. “Okay.” He was handed the purple marker, and they each scribbled their names onto the metal in front of them.

_Geoff was here- 33rd win!_

_Ray Narvaez Jr. <3_

Geoff glanced at Ray’s penmanship and sent him a jokingly annoyed look.

“Really?”

He then reached down and added a _First win!_ to the end of the sentence. Ray smiled and leaned against the wall of the gym, watching the others come forward to peer at the writing.

“Mew damn, Geoff! Thirty-three?” Michael yelled out. “How the fuck do you even get that many?”

“By battling, Mi-cool! Are you seriously that stupid?”

“It’s called a rhetorical question, you dumb fuck.”

“Wha- Mi-cool!”

As the two broke out into another small argument, Jack placed a hand on Ray’s shoulder gently. “Are you feeling okay? That battle probably wore you out a lot…”

The younger Trainer nodded slowly and looked up. “I’m alright, I think.”

“You think?” Jack subtly placed his wrist on Ray’s forehead and frowned. “We should probably head back to the Pokémon Center. Your fever’s gone up.”

The Pokémon Doctor went to the others to explain the situation as Growlithe ran up to Ray and put its front paws on his leg. He reached down and scratched behind its ears with a small smile on his face.

Geoff was soon walking over to him and placing a hand on his back softly. “Hey, you feeling okay? Jack said your fever was up.”

Ray quickly stood up straight, and the older Trainer grabbed onto his arm when he stumbled a bit. When the younger caught the worried look on the older’s face, he was quick to reassure him.

“I’m fine, just… tired.”

The symptoms from the morning were rapidly returning, and more intensely. His vision was swimming, which definitely was not helping with the sudden onset of nausea. He ached to cough, but the fear of vomiting right there prevented him from doing so; his head had begun to pound with the force of one hundred Take Down attacks. Even with Geoff gripping his arm, he felt like his knees would give out any second. He swallowed and looked at him.

“Are we going back to the Pokémon Center soon?” he asked quietly.

Geoff looked over to the others, and that was when Ray noticed that everyone’s attention was on them. Ryan came over and gently took hold of the youngest’s other arm while Jack nodded.

“Yeah, let’s head back.”

Michael pulled Growlithe away from Ray’s feet, and they began to make their way back to the Pokémon Center in hopes of recovery before the journey would continue.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *This is where I broke 50,000 words, thus winning NANOWRIMO 2014, and for the first time ever. Just thought I'd share that beautiful moment of my life with you guys ^_^
> 
> Thanks for reading!!
> 
> Uuuuugh I have such a love for sickfics, can't you tell? Of course I had to integrate /some/ illness into this one. And I mean, anxiety disorders lower your immune systems, so I mean... It's believable!
> 
> Again, if you see anything wrong or have criticism on the gym battle, please tell me! It'd be very much appreciated! <3
> 
> Oh, and as I promised someone important last week... [Comfort Ray Button]


	17. Attack at the PokeMart! Fight Fight Fight!! (Pt. 1)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As Ray battles the bug that he's come down with, Jack and Ryan head to the PokeMart to get some medicine and get a bit more excitement than they'd expected...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First chapter of a two-parter! (Originally, it was one chapter, but I thought it was too long, so I cut it in half).
> 
> Beacon Region Map: http://sweetiecurfyart.tumblr.com/post/111232399174/here-it-is-a-map-of-the-beacon-region-used
> 
> Art can be found here: sweetiecurfyart.tumblr.com  
> Follow me on Twitter under @Sweetie_Curfy

Gavin shifted in his seat and readjusted the brush in his hands before continuing to groom his Umbreon. “Mi-cool, do you think Ray will be alright?”

The older looked at the ceiling of the Gent’s room and threw down his pen. “Gavin, for fuck’s sake, I’m not a fucking doctor! I don’t fucking know! Stop fucking asking me!”

Ryan peered in from where he sat on the balcony with Geoff. “Gav, it’s just a stomach bug. He’ll be fine. Just relax, okay? If anyone, we should be worried about his Budew. Jack said it was in bad condition before he took it down to see Nurse Joy.”

The youngest of the four frowned and forced his gaze to stay on his Pokémon. “I’m just worried,” he repeated. “I mean, he was throwing up pretty intensely when we were in there…”

“Yeah, and you almost did the same fucking thing,” Michael growled as he returned to writing in his notebook. “And you’re not dead, right? So he’ll be fine. Calm your fucking dick hole.”

From his position on the floor, Gavin peered up at the Lad on the bed long enough to glare at him and stick out his tongue. “No need to be an arse, boi.”

Michael just rolled his eyes and focused on his writing while Growlithe nudged its owner’s hand comfortingly.

Ryan watched them for a moment before turning back to Geoff, who had blocked everything out in favor of staring at the map on the table. “Any ideas, yet?”

The older glanced up before looking back down and pointing at the map. “The obvious place to go would be Gubbin City,” he stated. “We can make it there in about a week if we go back through Route 18.”

The Pokémon Breeder leaned back and nodded. “Okay, yeah. Do you know what type the Gym Leader focuses on?”

“I’m pretty sure it’s Fire.” Geoff sat up a bit and sighed. “Which is a fucking huge problem. None of my Pokémon have an advantage against Fire Types. I mean, they don’t have a disadvantage, but…”

Ryan stretched his arms above his head. “Maybe you can catch a Water Type or something on the way over,” he suggested. “If not, just train harder, I guess.”

“Wow. Fucking genius plan. Thanks, asshole.”

“It was just a suggestion!”

“What the fuck else would I do?! Just not train?!”

The younger pulled his hands down and looked at the sky. “I guess it was kind of dumb…”

“You’re fucking telling me.” Geoff stood and grabbed the map before heading back inside. He nearly tripped over Gavin’s Pokémon, and he cursed as he caught his balance.

“Sorry, Geoff!”

The older glared at the younger. “Couldn’t you brush your Pokémon somewhere else than the fucking floor?”

He shrugged. “I don’t think anyone wants Midnight’s fur on their bed,” he pointed out, “And it’s not like I can go into our room. Jack kicked us out, remember?”

“And who’s fucking fault was that,” Michael grumbled.

Gavin peered up, an offended look flushed over his face. “I was trying to cheer him up, Mi-cool!”

“He wasn’t depressed, dumbass! Plus you don’t help someone who’s sick by _giving them fucking sugary as fuck candy_!”

“I thought it would help!”

Michael glared at him, but laughed as he turned back to him notebook. “You’re such a fucking dumbass, Gav.”

Geoff chortled and put his map in his backpack. “Arceus, Gavin.”

“What? I was trying to be helpful!”

Ryan leaned into the room. “All who think Gavin should never be a doctor, say I.”

“I.”

“I!”

“Aw, come on, guys!”

Before the conversation could go on any further, the door opened and Jack walked into the room. Gavin was up in an instant, knocking Midnight over.

“How’s Ray? Is he alright?”

Jack snorted and pushed the Pokémon Photographer out of the way. “Holy fuck, Gavin, calm down!”

“Well, is he okay?”

“He’s getting there,” Jack informed. “He’s not even close yet to one hundred percent, but he’s definitely not going to die.” He grabbed his bag and pulled on his shoes. “I’m going to go get some medicine to help speed up the virus. Maybe we’ll be able to leave for the next town then. Anybody want to come with?”

“I’ll go,” Ryan announced as he grabbed his shoes. “Nothing to do here, anyway.”

“Great! Geoff or Michael, could one of you keep an eye on Ray while we’re gone?”

“Sure,” Michael said, shutting his notebook. “I can handle that.”

“Why not me?” Gavin asked. “I’ve known him for the longest!”

“Well first of all, this has nothing to do with that,” Jack pointed out, “and second, you tried to give him fucking chocolate. Plus, when he threw up the first time, you ran out of the room gagging like fucking crazy!” He put his finger on the tip of Gavin’s nose. “You’re not an option.”

The younger frowned and crossed his arms, walking back to Midnight and flopping down. As the others left, Geoff gave the Pokémon Photographer a soft kick.

“Hey, asshole.”

“What?”

“I saw some building blocks for sale in the lobby. You want to go make something?”

Gavin was silent for a beat before he stood up and started towards the door.

“Let’s build.”

 

* * *

 

 

The door opened quietly, casting a thin strip of light across the floor. Michael slipped in and carefully shut the door behind Growlithe before he tip toed over to the area the beds were in. In the swamp of blankets on the bed closest to the balcony, there was a tuft of dark hair sticking out. A pair of glasses sat on the nightstand, along with a cup filled with water and a box of tissues. There was a garbage can close to the edge of the bed, indicating that that portion of the sickness wasn’t yet over.

The blankets shifted suddenly, and a face came out to peer at the Pokémon Ranger. “Michael…?”

The sleep-laced whisper barely reached his ears, but when it did, he went over and smiled gently at the producer. “Yeah, it’s me. Jack went to get some medicine for you. He’ll be back soon.”

Ray hummed in understanding and shut his eyes, burying his head back into the pillows. Growlithe jumped up and slipped under the blankets with him, and the youngest gave it a sleepy smile before putting an arm on its head in a weak attempt to pet it. With a quiet sigh, the older sat down on one of the other beds, pulling out his notebook and setting back to work.

 

* * *

 

 

The PokeMart that Ryan and Jack went to thankfully wasn’t too busy; a couple of other people were roaming the aisles, but that was about it. Jack had noted how unusual that was, since the one in Salubrity was usually filled, but no other comments were made about it.

They were browsing in the medicine aisle, and while Jack was reading the information on the different brands, Ryan was staring at the bandages and scar removers. He picked one up and looked closely at it.

“You know… I wonder how many people fall for these every year,” he contemplated. Jack glanced over and raised an eyebrow.

“What do you mean?” he asked.

“They don’t work,” Ryan stated. “I’ve tried it. They hardly do shit.”

Jack shook his head. “They usually work just fine. You must have tried it on some pretty nasty scars, or some relatively recent ones.”

Ryan didn’t respond; he kept his eyes on the packaging before silently putting it back. Jack frowned at the actions, but didn’t question it. Instead, he returned his gaze to the medicines in his hands.

“Do you know if Ray’s allergic to any kinds of medication?”

The older walked over and peered at the boxes. “Not that I know of.”

Jack hummed and looked back and forth again. “I’m just worried that he might have some kind of allergic reaction to Penicillin or something.”

“Just get both,” Ryan suggested, “Then give him the other if he’s allergic to one. It’s not that hard to-”

The Pokémon Breeder was cut off when the lights in the PokeMart went out. They both looked up in confusion before glancing at each other and sighing.

“Power’s out,” Jack grumbled.

“Yeah, no shit.”

They were about to leave when a scream followed by a loud _bang_ rang out from the back of the store.

“What the fuck was that?” Ryan mumbled.

A growl was heard after that, and then some shouting.

“What the fuck is _that_?”

They quickly hurried towards the sounds, with Ryan a few steps ahead of Jack. When the older rounded the corner of the aisle, he gasped quietly and ran behind the shelves, yanking the Pokémon Doctor with him. Slowly and subtly, he poked his head around to see what was happening.

Two men in black and white clothing had a young woman cornered, and a Houndoom stood between them. The ground in front of the woman was burnt and covered in soot; the Pokémon looked like it was ready to attack again.

“I’m not going to ask you again,” the first man growled. His beard moved with each word. From what Ryan could see, he had a septum piercing that glinted in the dim light. “Are you going to support us or not?”

The woman whimpered and covered her face, refusing to give an answer. The bearded man turned to the one with neatly groomed light brown hair.

“Jordan?”

“It’d be an honor, Adam. Houndoom, Flamethrower.”

She screamed; the two grinned. The neatly groomed one glanced at his Houndoom before his head jerked over, his eyes meeting Ryan’s. The Pokémon Breeder gasped and pulled his head back.

“Hey!”

He began to push Jack forward. “Get out of the aisle!”

As soon as they were out of the way, the shelves were knocked over by a large, five-pointed flame. The older grabbed the younger’s wrist and dragged him through the store.

“What the fuck is happening?!”

Another set of shelves crashed down merely inches from them; after the initial flinch, Ryan yelled, “Just fucking _run_!”

They ran for about a minute longer before Ryan let go and shoved Jack towards the exit. “Get out of here! I’ll hold them!”

“Ryan-”

“ _Go_!”

Jack gave him a worried look prior to hesitantly doing as told. Just before getting out of the door, he sent him another concerned glance, and then he was gone. As soon as Ryan saw this, he turned around, coming face to face with the two men as they turned the corner.

“What the hell are you doing here?!” the bearded one screamed.

The Pokémon Breeder took a step back and put a hand on the PokeBalls lining his belt. “I was just doing some shopping… Pardon me for interrupting whatever it was that you were doing.”

The well groomed one glared and turned to the bearded one. “You take care of this one; I’ll get the manager.”

“Right.”

As soon as he was gone, the man turned to Ryan and threw out a PokeBall.

“Cranidos!”

The Pokémon cried as it formed in front of them; Ryan widened his eyes and put a fearful frown on his face. The other smirked and held out a hand.

“Head Smash!”

Cranidos began to charge at Ryan, and he stepped back, taking the opportunity to toss out a PokeBall surreptitiously as he covered his face. When he heard the opponent Pokémon crash into his own, he let himself look up.

“You know…,” he sighed, catching eye contact with the other, “You really shouldn’t be messing with bastards like me. You’re going to find yourself in a hole someday if you keep that up.”

The other glared at him. “Oh, really? I doubt you could even make it this far! Even if you could, you’d be taken down immediately. I’ve got connections with the higher branches of Team Freelancer, per say.”

With a smirk and a dark chuckle, Ryan looked away. “So you think you’ve got friends in high places,” he sang lowly, “with the power to put us on the run?”

Confused, the man took a tentative step back. “Wh-what the fuck are you doing?”

“Well, forgive us, these smiles on our faces; you’ll know what power is when we are done…”

The bearded fearfully threw up a hand. “C-Cranidos, Head Smash again!”

“Dodge it!”

His Tauros jumped out of the way just as it came close; Ryan calmly held out his hand.

“Use Horn Attack!”

Cranidos turned in time to be knocked into some shelves, which fell over immediately and buried it in packages of pads and tampons. Once it crawled out, it stood with its feet apart, ready to fight.

“Ancient Power!”

It shot the glowing, blue sphere towards the Wild Bull Pokémon; Edgar leapt into the air to dodge it, and Ryan had to run to the side for it to miss him. The attack hit another set of shelves, this one full of mirrors, and knocked it over. The corner hit Ryan on his right shoulder, and he winced before holding out his left hand.

“Take Down, go!” he yelled.

“Get out of the way!”

Edgar charged at the opponent’s Pokémon, but it dove and rolled out of the line of attack just in time. The Wild Bull Pokémon skidded to a stop before launching itself at the Head Butt Pokémon once again. It ran, and they were soon in a chase throughout the PokeMart with their Trainers close behind.

The bearded man, Adam, if Ryan recalled correctly, suddenly yelled out, “Jump onto the shelves!”

With a defying leap, the Rock Type placed itself where it was told and kept jumping from shelf to shelf. Edgar ran alongside until Cranidos stumbled a bit.

“Now!” Ryan hollered.

The Normal Type hurdled into the air, slamming into Cranidos with enough force to destroy the shelf it was on and send it flying.

Adam held out his hand. “Ancient Power, again!”

While still in the air, the Pokémon turned its body and shot the attack. It hit Ryan’s Tauros directly in the chest, and it slammed into the floor with dizzying force. Ryan winced and rushed over.

Before he could make it, however, Cranidos landed in the middle of the path. The Breeder stopped dead in his tracks and looked over at its owner.

“What the fuck are you doing?!”

“Head Smash!”

Ryan didn’t have any time to react before a sudden force slammed into his stomach. He went flying across the aisle, and once he hit the floor, he curled up in pain and tried not to vomit.

As he lay on the floor, he saw a pair of black boots walking up to him; the paws of Cranidos were close behind. Ryan mustered up the hardest glare he could and sent it to the feet in front of him.

“You bastard,” he growled.

The man crouched and raised an eyebrow at him. “Do you really want to be calling me shit like that right now? I wouldn’t be testy if I were you.”

Ryan spat into his face, surprising even himself at the action. With a snarl, Adam stood and wiped the saliva off.

“I guess you really wanted to die today, huh?” He then turned to Cranidos. “Ancient Power, now.”

The blue sphere began to form in front of the Head Butt Pokémon, and Ryan squeezed his eyes shut, bracing himself for impact.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the read!! Sorry to leave you off on a cliff hanger ^^;
> 
> PokeDex Entries from here: http://www.amazon.com/Pokemon-Essential-Handbook-Scholastic/dp/0545427711
> 
> Ryan's song this chapter: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jE61fASOC7g
> 
> (Here's a quick life update, for those who don't follow me on Twitter/Tumblr... I graduate high school on Friday. This is the last chapter I'm ever going to post as a high schooler. I have an endless amount of mixed feelings for it. But that also means that I'll have time to write more, and I have been dabbling in a bit of animation, as those who have looked at my art blog have seen... Maybe a special project will be coming up soon ;) )
> 
> Oh, and also: [Comfort Ray Button]


	18. Attack at the PokeMart! Fight Fight Fight!! (Pt. 2)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As Ray battles the bug that he's come down with, Jack and Ryan head to the PokeMart to get some medicine and get a bit more excitement than they'd expected...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Yes, the summary for this chapter is supposed to be the same as last week's :p )
> 
> Beacon Region Map: http://sweetiecurfyart.tumblr.com/post/111232399174/here-it-is-a-map-of-the-beacon-region-used
> 
> Art can be found here: sweetiecurfyart.tumblr.com  
> Follow me on Twitter under @Sweetie_Curfy
> 
> This chapter's TW's: Blood, mentions of past self harm

The next thing he heard, there was a huge crash, followed by a lot of shouting. The Breeder took this opportunity to open his eyes a bit and see what was going on.

At the end of the aisle, a man with dark, curly hair stood behind a determined Donphan. The man himself had a pissed off look on his face; from what Ryan could see, Adam had taken a step back and was holding his arms up in defense. Cranidos was off to the side, unconscious.

“I said, leave him alone,” the man barked. “Are you going to listen, or do I have to show you again?”

Behind him, the well-groomed man from before came running into sight. “Adam! We gotta get the fuck out of here!”

“I- I-”

“ _Adam!_ ”

The bearded quickly scooped up his Cranidos and scurried past Ryan to escape the man. As soon as the two were gone, the man at the end of the aisle put his Donphan back into his PokeBall and rushed over to help Ryan sit up.

“Are you okay? What the fuck did they do to you?” he asked.

Ryan winced and clutched his abdomen. “My friend and I were shopping and they just attacked the place! I got my friend out, but I stayed to try and fight them, and I ended up getting a Head Smash to the stomach…”

The man frowned and glanced from his stomach to his arm. “What the hell happened there?”

“Where?”

The Breeder turned his gaze towards his right shoulder, expecting it to be a bit swollen from the shelf that fell. Not only did he see that, but there was a long gash in his forearm that was dripping blood. Now that he saw it, the adrenaline wore off, and the pain began to set in.

“Ah, fuck, I didn’t even know that was there,” he hissed. The man gently took hold of it and lifted it to look closer.

“Was it from all of those smashed mirrors over there?” he questioned. “There was some blood on a couple of pieces.”

Ryan hummed. “I assume so. I’m not really worried about that right now, though.” He struggled to stand, which the man helped him with.

“Whoa, dude, what the hell are you doing?”

“My Tauros was over there,” he grumbled. “I have to go see if it’s okay, or even there!”

The man grabbed onto his shoulder just before he got away. “That was your Tauros?” he asked. “The other guy was about to take it, but I got him away from it before I found you. I think it’s fine, it’s just knocked out.”

Ryan let out a sigh of relief that caused him to start coughing. Once he regained control of his lungs, he shrugged out of the man’s grip and used the shelves to support himself as he walked towards where Edgar had landed. Before he got too far, he felt his left arm being wrapped around a pair of shoulders. He glanced up and saw the man doing the action.

“What, did you think I was going to let you walk on your own?” he laughed. “You’ve gotta be a dumbass!”

The Breeder gave him a weak smile and continued to walk.

As soon as they’d reached Edgar and Ryan had put it in its PokeBall, they began to head towards the entrance. Even from this far away, they could see the small crowd of people that had gathered outside.

Ryan suddenly stopped walking and turned to look back. “Wait! There was a woman getting attacked- I think she was the manager! We’ve got to go-”

“I already took care of that,” the man interrupted. “Nothing to worry about. I told her to get out of here from the nearest entrance, and I’m pretty sure she’s safe now.”

He looked at him. “Are you sure? Do you know if those other guys grabbed her or something?”

The man chuckled and pulled him along. “Relax. If you’re that worried about her, I’ll send out one of my Pokémon to find her,” he reasoned. He quietly sent out a Camerupt and told it to go find the woman, which it quickly ran off to do. The two then continued to head towards the front.

“You must be a pretty skilled Trainer,” Ryan suddenly stated. When the man raised an eyebrow at him, he continued to speak his thoughts. “I mean, from what I’ve seen, your Pokémon have been raised to be strong, and you’ve done it well. Surely you’ve already beaten the gym here, and maybe the entire Pokémon League!”

The man smirked and looked away. “Yeah, I guess I’m pretty strong, but I never beat the gym here. I haven’t beaten any of the gyms in Beacon, actually. Circumstances are keeping me from doing that. I only came here because I heard a friend was in town, and I wanted to visit him, but I couldn’t find him. I stopped here to get some supplies before heading home when this mess happened.”

Ryan hummed in understanding. “Where do you live, then?”

He was silent for a moment, seemingly pondering the question. “Uh… Close to Hearten Village, I guess. It’s about a day’s walk away from there, depending on who you are.”

Before the Pokémon Breeder could even consider where that was, they were stepping outside and pushing through the crowd. The man kept reassuring everyone that everything was fine, while Ryan scanned the faces to find a familiar one. It wasn’t long until he felt another hand on his back, and he turned to see a certain ginger standing behind him with a worried look. Keeping a hand on the man next to him to stay standing, he grinned and turned around.

“You made it out! You’re okay!” he exclaimed with a sigh of relief.

“I wish I could say the same about you,” Jack replied. “What the fuck happened?”

Ryan shrugged. “Eh, you know… Shit happens. Team Freelancer.”

Jack pulled the Breeder’s hand away from the man and leaned in closer to inspect the cut. “This is really deep… We should get this patched up as soon as we can. We can get the medicine later; why don’t we just head back to the Pokémon Center now?”

With a nod, Ryan gave the Pokémon Doctor a weak smile. “Yeah, sure,” he replied before turning to the man. “Do you know where- oh.”

The man had disappeared somewhere in the crowd, leaving Ryan and Jack on their own. The younger frowned and raised an eyebrow at the older.

“Who was that, anyway?” he asked quietly. Ryan simply shook his head, not having a clue as to what the answer was. Jack rolled his eyes and threw the other’s good arm over his shoulder.

“Well, let’s head back then. What all’s hurt?”

 

* * *

 

 

Gavin crouched just low enough to be able to peer into the small window. “It’s so… empty,” he commented. “Is there any way we could add any pictures or anything into it?”

Geoff rolled his eyes. “They’re fucking building blocks, Gav. It’s not a fucking scale model or any of that shit.”

The Photographer frowned, but stood up regardless. “Fine. Can I at least take a picture of it before we demolish it?”

“Were you planning on not?”

Quickly, the younger pulled out his camera and held it up. With another frown, he pulled himself onto the bed, holding the camera to give the picture an aerial view of their creation. Geoff lay down next to it and gave a stupid grin just as the picture snapped. Gavin laughed and jumped down, being careful not to jump on the blocks.

“What are we going to call this bitch, then?” he asked, plopping down across from the Trainer. “’The Awesome City of Destiny’? ‘Village of Failures’?”

Geoff snorted and reached over to punch him. “That’d be _your_ town, idiot. And, really? ‘Awesome City of Destiny’? You’re such a little bitch.”

Gavin pouted, leaning back and crossing his arms. “Mi-cool would have liked it…”

“I highly doubt that,” the older laughed. He then leaned on his hands and pondered for a moment. “Why don’t we call it ‘Achievement City’?”

The younger laughed loudly. “Why of all things would we call it that?”

Geoff opened his mouth to respond, but before any sound could come out, the door opened. They turned to watch Michael walk into the room and stop when he saw the building blocks all over the floor. He laughed and pointed at it.

“What the fuck is that?”

“It’s mother fucking Achievement City!” Geoff explained. “Little Gavvy and I built it all by ourselves!”

“Here’s your house,” Gavin said, pointing to one of the better built houses they’d made. “It’s right next to mine!”

Michael rolled his eyes. “Fuckin’ lovely.”

Gavin suddenly looked around before raising an eyebrow at the Pokémon Ranger. “Hey, where’s Growlithe? Did you leave it in the other room, boi?”

The older nodded and leaned against the wall. “Yeah. Apparently when Ray’s sleeping, he likes to have a Pokémon to cuddle with, and Growlithe is the one to take it this time.”

The youngest in the room cooed loudly and jumped up. “I’ve gotta get a picture of it!” Before he could run out of the room, however, Michael grabbed his torso and pulled him back.

“No fucking way, asshole! You’re not allowed in there!”

He pouted quietly. “But Mi-cool… It’ll only be for a second!”

Michael glared at him, but eventually sighed and gave it. “I’ll let you stay in there for two minutes.”

Gavin cheered and ran out.

 

* * *

 

 

After taking a quick stop to patch up the bleeding, Jack and Ryan continued their walk back to the Pokémon Center in silence. Ryan kept glancing in the shops, feeling rather guilty that his injuries were keeping Ray from getting the care he needed to get over his illness. Eventually, he grabbed Jack’s arm and stopped walking. The younger raised an eyebrow at him.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

Ryan pointed at the sign on one of the shops. “Look, I’m not bleeding to death anymore, and my stomach and shoulder can wait a few minutes. Let’s get some medicine for Ray in here, okay?”

Jack frowned and looked at the sign. “Well… I guess it can’t really hurt…”

“Great! Let’s go in!”

 

* * *

 

 

The door shut forcefully, and as Gavin pouted, Geoff let himself fall to the ground laughing. The Photographer glared at him before turning and going into the Gent’s room again.

“It was just a bloody accident… Dunno why Mi-cool had to be such an arse about it.”

Once Geoff caught his breath, he got up and followed the younger. “You woke the kid up, genius. Of course he’s going to kick you out. You’re a hazard to yourself, let alone other people!”

Gavin threw himself on one of the beds while Geoff shut the door. With a sigh, he replied, “But it’s not like I meant to fall on him! The bloody trashcan was in the way!”

“You’re right,” Geoff said with mock seriousness, sitting next to the Gubbin City native. “Michael’s definitely in the wrong for that part. But you know, I think what pushed him over was when you screamed when you saw what was _in_ the garbage.”

“It’s bloody vomit! How do you think I was going to react?!”

“Not fucking screaming and scaring the shit out of Ray!”

Gavin looked away and grumbled something inaudibly; Geoff sighed and got up, heading towards the balcony.

“You’re so fucking hopeless, Gav,” he breathed.

 

* * *

 

 

As soon as he’d shut the door, Michael quickly made his way back to where Ray was sat up, breathing heavily.

“What the hell…?” he asked, eyes wide. The Ranger sat on the bed next to his and shook his head, sighing.

“Gavin’s being a moron,” he explained. “Just go back to sleep, dude. Everything’s fine.”

Ray nodded, but he didn’t lay back down. Instead, he gently picked up Growlithe and moved it to the opposite side of the bed before reaching down and grabbing the garbage can. The Pokémon nuzzled into his side as an act of comfort, as it could feel his shaking; Michael hesitantly stood up.

“You think you’re going to be sick?” he questioned softly.

Before Ray could reply, Michael was given an answer. The Trainer leaned forward a bit as he began to vomit. The older was quick to sit next to him and rub his back while Growlithe whined sympathetically behind them.

Between the now dry heaves, the younger was practically gasping for air. It took a few minutes, but after a while, the harsh breathing was the only sound filling the room. Michael continued to rub his back, but he whispered words of comfort as he did so.

Eventually, once Ray could breathe again, the Ranger gave him a small smile and stood.

“Here, drink some water,” he ordered, handing the ill the glass. Ray stayed silent as he obeyed, taking as small sips as he could.

The room was quiet for a little while after that; after the glass was set aside, Ray re-buried himself in his blankets and Michael sat back down on the bed next to Ray’s. Growlithe curled up next to his head and was quickly asleep- quicker than Ray was.

Michael had thought Ray was fast asleep a few minutes later, but he was proven wrong when the younger croaked out his name. He quickly looked over.

“What’s up?”

Ray cracked his eyes open to look at him. “D’you know how Budew’s doing? Is it alright?”

The Ranger frowned and shook his head. “When Jack comes back, I’ll go check, okay?”

The younger hummed. “Okay.”

The room was silent again within minutes.

 

* * *

 

 

Gavin and Geoff were just starting to pick up their building blocks when the door opened again, letting Ryan and Jack in. Each was holding a plastic bag, and they both raised an eyebrow at the sight before them.

“Are you guys playing with fucking building blocks?” Jack laughed.

“We made Achievement City!” Gavin exclaimed. “There’s a house for each of us!”

“’Achievement City’?” Ryan scoffed. “Why of all things is it called that?”

“I don’t know, ask Geoff! He’s the one that came up with it.”

Geoff rolled his eyes and looked up at them. “Because we’ve all got our things we’re trying to achieve, like Ray and I are trying to be the best Trainers out there, Gavin’s trying to be the best photographer, you’re trying to be a Doctor,” he explained, pointing at Jack before pointing to Ryan. “And you… I don’t know, but you’ve got to be trying to do something, right? Same goes for Michael.”

Ryan laughed quietly as he set his bag down and sat on the bed closest to the door. “And you think we’re going to achieve it all? Geoff, please, we’re more likely to kill those achievements than get them. We’re more of achievement _hunters_ than achievement _getters_.”

The oldest and youngest in the room burst into laughter, momentarily dropping the blocks in favor of laying on the floor. Jack giggled at the thought before joining Ryan.

Once he’d caught his breath, Geoff sat up and wiped his eyes. “Fucking Arceus, man… That’s it. That’s what we’re called now. Fucking Achievement Hunters. I refuse to call us anything else now!”

“That’s gonna be a top name,” Gavin commented, starting to pick up the blocks again. “Can’t wait til the other Lads hear it!”

Jack hummed and stood up, digging through his bag. “Speaking of which, I’d better go give this to Ray. I’ll send Michael back in a minute.”

The others nodded, and he was out in a moment.

Michael turned his head towards the door as soon as he heard it clicking shut. Quietly, he stood and tip-toed over to see who had come in, and was greeted with a soft smile from the ginger in the short hall.

“How’s he doing?” he whispered, just audible enough for Michael to hear.

“He threw up a little bit ago, but aside from that, he’s just been sleeping.” He quietly made his way next to the Pokémon Doctor. “Are you taking over, then?”

Jack nodded. “Yeah, you and Growlithe can go back over with the others, if you want.”

Glancing over to where Growlithe was napping under Ray’s arm, Michael shook his head. “Nah, I’ll stay to help, if you need. Besides, Growlithe looks comfortable where it is. I’m going to go see how Budew’s doing, alright?”

The older nodded again, and the Ranger quietly slipped out of the room. In a similar manner, Jack made his way over to the sleeping Trainer and brushed the bangs away long enough to put his wrist on his forehead. A small, relieved sigh let itself out of the Pokémon Doctor as he pulled it away.

A soft groan hit Jack’s ears, and as soon as he saw Ray’s eyes open a bit, he gave him a soft smile.

“Jack…?”

“I’m here,” he whispered. “You seem to be getting a lot better. Do you need anything?”

The younger reached up and brushed his fingertips against Jack’s hand, but he seemed to hesitate before pulling it back and shaking his head. The older gave him another gentle smile before putting a box of medicine on the bedside table and sitting down on the bed next to him.

 

* * *

 

 

“Ryan,” Gavin said, putting the last of the blocks back in the box. “What all did you and Jack get? I don’t think medicine takes up two bags to bring to a Pokémon Center room…”

The Pokémon Breeder glanced at the bag on the floor and grinned. “Oh, that? Well, remember those bets we had during the gym battles?”

Gavin hesitated. “Y-Yeah…?”

Without warning, Ryan leapt up and grabbed the bag before dumping its contents on the Lad in front of him. Fifteen Tentacool keychains tumbled onto him as he squealed in surprise, and Geoff fell back onto the floor in laughter. Sputtering in shock, Gavin picked up one of them to inspect.

“What the bloody hell, Ry?!”

“You wanted fifteen squids!” he laughed loudly. “I got you fifteen squids!”

The Pokémon Photographer stared at him for a moment before standing and hollering, “ _Quid_! Fifteen _quid_!”

“I don’t know what that is!”

Gavin rolled his eyes and huffed before gathering up the keychains and walking past the crying Geoff to go out the door. Ryan laughed and looked at the Trainer once he was gone.

“Are you okay?”

Between the gasps for air and the squeaks, Ryan could swear he heard a choked out “No…!”

 

* * *

 

 

Michael was halfway down the hall when he heard a door open and slam shut behind him, followed by a joyous “Mi-cool!”

With a sigh, the Ranger turned to face him. “What do you want, Gavin?” He then stopped and noticed the Tentacool. “More importantly, why the fuck do you have so many of those?”

Gavin glared and looked away. “Bloody Ryan thought it would be funny to think ‘quid’ meant ‘squid’… Where are you going?”

The older jabbed his thumb towards the staircase. “I’m going to go see if I can get Budew back. Ray was asking about it earlier. You wanna come with?”

“Of course I do!” he cheered. “Oh, but first, I gotta go dump these in our room. I dunno what the hell I’m going to do with them!”

“Dump ‘em in a river,” Michael laughed. “Put them back where they belong.”

Gavin rolled his eyes before turning and running to the door of Room 317. He hadn’t even taken a step into the room before the words, “Gavin, no!” rang out from inside. The Photographer whined and let his shoulders drop.

“But I’m just putting these on my bed!”

Jack came to the door and scooped the keychains out of his arms. “I’ll do it for you,” he responded. “You’re still not allowed in here until he’s better.”

The younger crossed his arms. “Then what the hell am I gonna do to sleep tonight?”

“You’ll take my bed. I’ll stay in this room.”

Gavin pouted, but stayed silent regardless. With a frown on his face, he turned and sauntered back to Michael, gently taking his arm and dragging him towards the stairs.

As soon as the door had shut in the stairwell, Michael pulled his arm away and leaned against the wall. “Alright. What’s the big deal about not being in our room for the night?” he asked. Gavin opened his mouth to respond, but the Ranger held up a hand before any sound could come out. “And don’t say that it’s breaking routine, because you wouldn’t get this upset over something like that. At least not this kind of upset.”

The Photographer frowned and stared at the floor. “I just don’t understand _why_ ,” he softly admitted. “I’ve only been trying to help!”

Michael rolled his eyes. “You’re just clumsy, Gav. It’s nothing against you.” He pressed his lips together and glanced at the ceiling. “Well… Clumsy and ignorant, I guess.”

“But I’m not usually this bad!” he quickly replied. “You know that!”

The older shrugged, pushing himself off of the wall. “Then what’s making you worse than normal? If you can figure that out, maybe you can fix it.”

Gavin sighed and started walking down the stairs. “I dunno what it could be,” he mumbled. “Unless…” He stopped mid-step, eyes growing a bit wide before shutting tight as he let out a groan. “Ah, dammit!”

Michael was quick to jump down to his level. “What? It can’t be that fucking bad, can it?”

The younger rubbed his face with his hands. “It’s gotta be a prodrome!” he complained. “Dammit! I just had one a few weeks ago! Am I on another cycle?! I thought I’d outgrown them!”

“What the fuck is a prodrome?” Michael questioned. He then frowned and grabbed onto the other’s arm. “Is there something wrong with you? Gav, why haven’t you fucking told us?!”

“Nothing’s wrong with me, Mi-cool! Don’t worry about it,” he reassured. “I get migraines sometimes. When I was younger, I used to get them in cycles, like every once in a while, I’d just get pounded with them. I probably would have them six or seven times a month, every other month. Now I only get them once every few months, but since I just had one a couple of days before we met you…”

Michael hummed in understanding and led them down the rest of the stairs before commenting. “So, a prodrome makes you extra clumsy?”

“Sort of,” Gavin explained. “It’s less that and more of it just minges my brain up for a couple of days. So my vision is all weird, and I’m yawning a hell of a lot, and I have a lot more brain farts than usual.”

“Sounds rough.”

“You have no idea.”

They stepped into the lobby, and then Michael placed a hand on the Gubbin native’s shoulder. “Alright, I’m going to grab Budew. Stay here, okay?”

With that, he headed off to the front counter, leaving Gavin alone to his thoughts.

 

* * *

 

 

As soon as Ryan turned on the hot water of the shower, he turned his back to the mirror and began to undress. It was still early in the evening, so he figured he could take a long shower and still have some time to himself before the day ended. Once the clothes were off, he stepped into the stream and let out a deep breath as his muscles relaxed.

He was jolted back into reality when he felt a damp cloth against his arm. Glancing down, he sighed, knowing he was going to have to take it off. Quietly, and trying very hard not to look at it, he unraveled the gauze and tossed it onto the floor past the curtain.

He kept his eyes on the walls for as long as he could, but eventually he was unable to avoid it any more. The Breeder meant to look at the soap in his hands, but instead his gaze landed on the blood washing off of his arm and into the tub. As he watched, he felt himself falling into a bit of a… trance.

With a small gasp, he snapped his head back up and stared at the ceiling. This was _not_ the time for _those_ thoughts to come back; Geoff was just on the other side of the wall, not to mention that Jack was _extremely_ observant. Besides, he’d been clean for so long… He couldn’t break it now.

Quickly, he finished washing up and scrambled out of the shower before the thoughts could go any further. He had just about made it when he spotted the razor on the counter, right where he’d left it that morning without a second thought. Sucking in a quick breath and shoving it off of the counter and into the trash, he turned away and tried to get his mind off of the temptation staring him right in the face.

 

* * *

 

 

Jack walked into Room 318 to find only a single member of the group sitting on the middle bed. As the other looked up, he sat on the bed nearest to the door and asked, “Where are the others?”

“Gavin stormed out of the room a while ago, I haven’t seen Michael since you guys got back, Ray’s in their room, and Ryan’s in the shower,” Geoff replied, dragging out the ‘and’. After a nod of understanding from Jack, he turned back to the notebook in his lap. “Once Ray’s better, I think we’re going to leave for Gubbin City. That’s where the next gym is. We’re going to go back through Route 18 and Salubrity to get to Route 16. Sound good?”

Jack opened his mouth, but hesitated and bit his lip. Geoff kept his eyes on him, waiting for him to speak. Eventually, the ginger took a deep breath and asked, “Could we maybe… Not go through Salubrity?”

The older raised an eyebrow. “What? Why not?”

“I just…” He sighed. “I don’t think I can handle going back there if I’m not going to stay, you know?”

Geoff hummed in understanding, knowing the story from when Ryan explained it to him three nights ago when they were the only two left awake. There was a beat of silence, and then the Trainer nodded.

“Yeah,” he said, “Yeah, that’s fine. We’ll just go through 19 then. It’s not that big of a deal.”

Jack let out a sigh of relief and smiled. “Great. Thank you.”

Geoff went to reply, but a sudden, sharp song from Ryan cut him off and made them both flinch.

“I got to leave, so I packed up my bags, and I’m going…!”

The older started to laugh. “What the fuck is he doing?”

“I gotta date, so don’t you ask me to stay, ‘cause I’m showing…!”

Jack chuckled a bit. “Well… At least he sounds happy?”

Geoff shook his head with a sigh, knowing that this wasn’t the first time and wouldn’t be the last time that Ryan would be belting as the journey continued.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!!
> 
> (Can you guess who the mysterious man is in this chapter? nudge nudge)
> 
> Okay, so, the part with Ryan giving Gavin the squids? I based that off of a comic that I found on Tumblr that I cannot find for my life now. I give the artist full credit for the idea, whoever it was! If anyone can help me find it, I will be forever greatful!!
> 
> Ryan's song this chapter: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AvTrrBxi8fs
> 
> [Comfort Ray Button]  
> [Comfort Ryan Button]  
> [Comfort Gavin Button]


	19. Unrelenting Starly! When Will The Fighting End?!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As the group tries to understand the reasoning behind Gavin and Michael's constant arguing, Ray takes on the responsibility of taking care of the Starly that's been after Geoff since they left.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh look, my second attempt at posting this chapter after I went to fix one final typo and forgot to click in the box, so I ended up losing everything as I went back a page. (Still seething at myself.)
> 
> Beacon Region Map: http://sweetiecurfyart.tumblr.com/post/111232399174/here-it-is-a-map-of-the-beacon-region-used
> 
> Art can be found here: sweetiecurfyart.tumblr.com  
> Follow me on Twitter under @Sweetie_Curfy
> 
> TW this chapter: Anxiety attack

The sunlight mixed with the morning mist put a weird temperature on Route 19, Gavin noticed. It felt like someone holding a lamp over a pool while you were still underwater. He sighed at the thought and snapped another picture before hearing a frustrated sigh behind him.

“Gavin, for fuck’s sake, haven’t you gotten enough pictures already?” Michael snapped. “Arceus, man, you’ve taken like seven thousand since we left!”

The younger stopped walking long enough to turn and glare at him. “I can never take enough pictures, Mi-cool. Don’t you know that already? Or are you too busy not paying attention like always?”

“You fucking prick, I’m going to-”

“Guys,” Ryan groaned, “We haven’t even been walking for ten minutes and you’re already at it. Calm down.”

“He started it,” Gavin grumbled, looking at the path before starting down it again.

“I don’t care who started it; I’m ending it.”

The Photographer kept his glare on the ground for a few more minutes, thanking Mew that he was the furthest one in the group at the moment. He didn’t think he could handle talking to anyone without yelling at them. Their early start, courtesy of Geoff, was taking a toll on everyone so far.

Well, everyone, it seemed, except Ray. Despite the fact that he’d been sick the day before and had slept in the latest, he rushed up to the Gubbin City native and started walking next to him. When Gavin gave him a glance, the younger Trainer returned it with a small smile.

“Are you okay?” he asked softly.

The Photographer nearly laughed in his face. “Of course I’m fine, X-Ray. Just pissed at Mi-cool. If anything, I should be asking _you_ that.”

Ray’s eyebrows rose, and he turned to look at the path. “I’m fine. Don’t worry about me.”

Gavin rolled his eyes. “Well, how _are_ you feeling?”

“Uh… A lot better,” he replied quietly. “I haven’t felt like I was going to throw up yet, so that’s a good sign, right?”

This time, Gavin did laugh. He threw an arm around the younger and gently punched his shoulder. “Yeah, that’s top! And your fever’s gone, too, so I’d say you’re on the right path to recovery!”

Ray laughed as they fell into a comfortable silence. Gavin pulled his arm back after a moment, and they kept down the path with soft smiles on their faces.

The quietness was broken when Geoff, in the back of the group, suddenly yelled, “Holy fucking _shit!_ ”

Everyone quickly turned to see a small Starly fluttering frantically and pecking at his head and shoulders. He threw his arms around, trying to get it to leave, but the efforts were futile until Jack rushed over and pulled him away.

“What the fuck does that little fucker think it’s doing?!” he yelled. “You’re going to get your ass kicked, little Starly!” He reached down and grabbed a PokeBall, but as soon as it was enlarged, two Staraptor and a Staravia flew out of the trees and blocked their sighting of the Starly at hand.

“What the fuck just happened?” Ryan asked exasperatedly. He and the Lads quickly made their way to the other two while Jack began to inspect the scrapes the Starly had left behind.

“I’ll tell you what happened, that little shit just came out of nowhere and started attacking me!” Geoff yelled. “Fucking stupid piece of shit!”

Gavin forcefully turned Ray around and reached into the younger’s bag to pull out the PokeDex.

_Starly, the Starling Pokémon. Though small, Starly can flap their wings with great power. They always travel en masse, because they are small enough to be vulnerable on their own._

Michael began to laugh. “Geoff just got jumped by a fucking Starly!” he wheezed.

The others began to howl at that, to which the oldest responded with, “I did not! Shut the fuck up!”

Jack shook his head. “Way to go, Geoff. You just attract all of the Pokémon, don’t you?”

“I am going to kick your ass so fucking hard, you’ll be shitting bricks for a week.”

Before Jack could shoot out another snarky response, one of the Staraptor screeched at them. Ray flinched and jumped behind Michael while the others turned their attention to the Flying Type Pokémon. Growlithe began to bark at them, but Michael held out a hand to calm it down.

“What the fuck does _it_ want?” Geoff snapped.

Ryan watched as it flew over to them and puffed its chest out. He raised an eyebrow in thought. “I… Think it wants to battle you,” he concluded.

The older Trainer grabbed a PokeBall and held it out. “Fucking absolutely! Vulpix, you’re up! We’re gonna kick its ass!”

He threw the PokeBall, and the Fire Type Pokémon landed on the ground in front of the group. It crouched a bit and growled ever so softly; Gavin shoved the PokeDex into Michael’s hands and started taking photos. Michael rolled his eyes and read the entry.

_Vulpix, the Fox Pokémon. As it grows, Vulpix’s tail will split to make more tails. It can control balls of fire._

_Owned by: Geoff Ramsey_

Ray snickered from where he poked over the Ranger’s shoulder. “’Balls of fire’?” he laughed.

Michael did the same and looked at Geoff before asking, “Hey, Geoff, is your Vulpix a boy?”

The oldest sighed. “You guys are so fucking immature.”

“Says the one who said the boulder was as big as your dick,” Ryan chimed in.

Choosing to ignore them, Geoff held out a hand. “Vulpix, Quick Attack!”

Vulpix darted forwards, dashing from side to side as it rushed towards Staraptor.

However, just before it made contact, the Starly from before flew into the path and took the attack. Geoff sputtered in shock; the others gave each other wary looks.

“What… is it doing?” Jack asked.

Ryan scratched at his neck as he pondered the question. “Maybe it wants to protect Staraptor?” he guessed. “Or maybe it just wants to battle?”

Michael handed the PokeDex back to Ray while he watched the Starling Pokémon struggle to stand. “I think it’s trying to look braver,” he added. “Its pride is on the line, I guess. Why else would it have attacked Geoff while the others didn’t?”

The others didn’t answer from lack of knowledge, or Ryan’s case, shame that he couldn’t have gotten to that answer first. He mentally kicked himself for once again showing off his poor Breeding skills.

“Ember!” Geoff yelled.

Vulpix let out a stream of small flames, and most of them hit the Starly. It screeched and fluttered into the air until it collapsed. Once the attack ended, it stumbled up, and with tears in its eyes, flew off into the forest.

“Aw, Geoff, you made it cry!” Jack pointed out as the Staraptor and Staravia flew after it.

“Good! That’ll teach it what happens when you fuck around with Trainers!”

The Pokémon Doctor glared at the Trainer before turning and starting to walk off in the direction of the Starly. Michael raised an eyebrow at him.

“Wait, where are you going?”

“I’ve got to go see if that Starly’s alright,” he answered. “I won’t be able to live with myself if it dies off in the woods because Geoff couldn’t keep his anger to himself.”

Growlithe and the Ranger both frowned and followed the older. “I’ll come with you, then. I’d feel the same way if _you_ were the one to die off in the woods.”

Jack gave him a soft smile, and the last thing the others heard before they were out of earshot was, “Thanks, but you do remember I’ve got my Pokémon, right?”

Gavin looked at the other three and shrugged. “I might as well follow. Not gonna get any good pictures just by standing around here, right?”

He ran off to catch up; Ryan gave the Trainers a glance before wordlessly following.

Geoff huffed and crossed his arms, ignoring Vulpix as it jumped onto his shoulder. “This is fucking stupid. It’s just a Starly! How hurt could it be?!”

Ray shifted his feet and stared at the ground. “I, uh…” He swallowed, reconsidering. “N-Never mind…”

“What?”

The younger bit his lip and grabbed the hem of his shirt. “I-I think it’s less that its hurt and more that it was crying,” he quietly admitted. After a quick, deep breath, he looked up at the older Trainer. “Should we go after them? You know, so we don’t get too separated…”

The other glared, but regardlessly grabbed Ray’s arm and started pulling him in the direction the others had left in.

 

* * *

 

 

By the time the Trainers had caught up, the others were standing at the edge of a clearing full of a whole flock of Starly, Staravia, and Staraptor. Ryan waved them over, placing a finger over his lips to keep them quiet.

“They’re yelling at the Starly you attacked earlier,” he explained quietly. “From what I can tell, I think it’s because it lost. Pride and all, you know.”

“To be honest, Rye-bread, I think it’s done this before, and they’re getting sick of it,” Michael whispered over. “Not pride.”

Ryan felt his heart fall, and he let his shoulders drop. “Oh.”

Geoff frowned and stepped closer to the scene. “How can you tell?”

“They look so fucking done with doing this, like they’ve done it over and over.” The Ranger shook his head. “I mean, I’ve seen it happen with other Pokémon, and it’s pretty common among first stage evolutions like Starly. It’s kind of obvious to me, at least.”

Ray looked at the older. “So it just wants to battle, then?”

Michael nodded. “That’s what it seems like to me.”

There was a beat where everyone just continued to watch the Flying Type Pokémon; before anyone really knew what was going on, Ray ran into the clearing and pulled out a PokeBall.

“Hey, Starly!”

Geoff moved to chase after him, but Jack grabbed his shoulder and held him back. “What the fuck is he doing?!” he hissed. “Is he trying to get himself killed?!”

“It’s not the first time,” Gavin commented. “He did this before with the Magnemite, remember?”

“That was different. He was following it to make sure it got back to its pack,” Ryan reminded.

Gavin opened his mouth to reply, but Michael shoved a hand over his mouth and forced him to listen to what Ray had to say next.

The small Starly, who had made its way over to the ground in front of the younger Trainer, cawed up into his face. He flinched and took a step back, but otherwise stood his ground.

“You just want to battle, right?” he asked with a somewhat shaky voice. “I’ll battle you, if that’s all you want! Is that alright with you?”

The Starling Pokémon stared at him for a moment before leaping back and flying into a battle stance. Taking this as a yes, Ray threw his PokeBall.

“Cyndaquil, let’s do this!”

The Fire Type landed on the ground with a small cry; once it saw the Starly in front of it, it began to shake and took a couple of steps back.

From behind the shrubbery, Geoff sighed. “Fucking seriously? It took on Brandon’s Staryu like it was nothing! How is it scared of a tiny ass Starly?”

“Cyndaquil,” Ray said softly, “It’s alright. It’s just a Starly, see? We can do it. There’s nothing to be afraid of.”

After one last moment of hesitation, Cyndaquil finally stood confidently. With a small smile on his face, Ray put his hand into a fist.

“Well, that was a bloody fast recovery!” Gavin scoffed. Ryan weakly punched the Photographer and pointed at the battle.

“Alright, Cyndaquil, use Ember!”

The Fire Mouse Pokémon shot the small flames at the Starling Pokémon, who stayed in place and endured the attack. Quickly after, it flew down and slammed Cyndaquil with one of its wings. It skidded back a few feet before regaining its posture.

Ray held out his hand, feeling his muscles relaxing with each command. “Now, Tackle!”

Once again, while Cyndaquil leaped up to use the attack, the Starly let it happen with no signs of resistance. Geoff raised an eyebrow.

“Is it trying to lose, or is it just stupid?” he questioned.

Jack shook his head. “I don’t think it’s either. It might be a pride thing. Maybe it thinks that if it dodges, it’ll be seen as weak.”

Ray’s eyebrows rose, and he turned to look at them. “Wait, that’s a thing?!”

“X-Ray, watch-!”

The Trainer whipped his body around just in time to see Starly quickly attacking Cyndaquil. He flinched and made a vow to never take his eyes off of the battlefield ever again.

“You alright?”

The Fire Type stood and shook its head before nodding. With a relieved smile, he let the air out of his lungs and pointed at the Starly.

“Great! Then let’s use Ember again!”

Cyndaquil shot the small flames out of its mouth, and just as before, Starly let the attack hit. This time, however, there was enough force to knock it to the ground, and it lay motionless. Geoff held his breath as he watched.

_“Empoleon!”_

Ray and his Pokémon rushed over and kneeled next to it; they looked at Jack with worried looks on their faces.

“Jack, I think I burned it…!”

The Pokémon Doctor hurried over, shooing away the growing crowd of the Starly’s flock. He pulled off his bag and started digging through it. Ray got up and stepped back to allow him some room as he spared a glance at the other four.

Gavin was quick to get to the younger’s side, putting a reassuring hand on his arm and pulling it back when he flinched away. He gave him a gentle smile.

“Don’t worry about it,” he said softly. “It’ll be alright. Jack’ll take care of it.”

Ray took a deep breath, the anxiety finally settling back in. “Right. I know.”

When he looked up, he saw that Ryan, Michael, and Growlithe were near them, and Geoff was standing next to Jack and watching what he was doing. Michael caught Ray’s eye and gave him a smile similar to the one Gavin had offered.

“Relax, Ray,” he breathed. “It’s not that hurt. S’just got a little burn. Nothing serious.”

The youngest nodded, taking a step away from the group and pulling his arms up. His body had apparently decided that now was a great time for yet another anxiety attack, and there was nothing he could do to stop this one.

Jack noticed the sudden small movements coming from the Trainer, but he ignored it in favor of finding the Burn Heal buried deep in his bag. Eventually, he grabbed hold of the small bottle and yanked it out with a grin.

“There we go!” he cheered. Looking down at the hardly conscious Starly, he gave it a soft smile. “You’ll be alright, little guy.”

He quietly helped it sit up before spraying the medicine onto the burned areas. It flinched at each one, but he held it there tightly enough that it wouldn’t flee. Geoff crouched next to him and frowned.

“Dude, you’re hurting it worse!” he exclaimed. “You sure it’s not having an allergic reaction?”

“It’s a disinfectant, Geoff,” Jack explained. “Plus it didn’t break the skin. The antibodies aren’t going to attack anything on the outside of the body _that_ fast. Besides, it’s naturally going to sting a little bit. That’s just the disinfectant at work.”

The Trainer opened his mouth to respond, but reconsidered and shut it.

After a few more minutes, Jack gently picked up the Pokémon in his arms and gave the rest of its flock a reassuring look. “It’s going to be okay,” he said to them. “It’s just gotta heal up a little bit. It’ll probably be back to normal by tomorrow.” He gently placed the Starly on the back of one of the Staraptor and looked at the others, waiting for one of them to decide what to do.

Geoff pointed at the path. “I say we go,” he suggested. “We’re already going the long way to Gubbin City; we can’t afford to waste any more time!”

“Wait, we’re going to Gubbin?!” Gavin shouted. “Oh my Mew, this is going to be top! You guys can meet Dan and my brother and my other friends and-!”

“Hold on, is that where you’re from?” Jack asked.

“Yeah! This is absolutely top! We need to get there as soon as possible!”

“Then let’s fucking go already!” Geoff replied, grabbing onto Gavin’s arm and dragging him towards where they’d come from. Jack, Ryan, and Michael all grinned at each other and went to follow; the only thing holding the Pokémon Doctor back was a tug at his pant leg. He glanced down and saw Growlithe with the cloth in its mouth, giving him a concerned look.

“Guys, wait,” he called out.

He heard the footsteps cease, and a loud groan echoed out from the oldest.

“What? What could we possibly need to stay for?” Geoff snapped.

Growlithe yipped and pointed to the flock behind it, which was giving them sad looks. Jack frowned.

“I think they want us to stay,” he replied, keeping his eyes on the Flying Types. “Maybe to keep an eye on that Starly?”

Growlithe nodded and set its paw down; he bent down to look one of the Staraptor in the eye.

“We can do that,” he told it, “But I think Geoff’s only got enough patience to stay for one day. Is that okay?”

It nodded, and he stood up straight.

“Great! We’ll do everything we can to help you guys out!”

“Seriously, we’re going to stay just for one fucking Starly?” Geoff yelled. “This is fucking bullshit!”

Ryan tapped the oldest’s shoulder. “I think it’d be helpful for Ray, too,” he said lowly enough for just him to hear. “He’s doing that thing he was doing on the day of the first gym battle, and when we were on Route 18…”

Quickly, the Trainer turned his gaze to the youngest. Sure enough, he was stood with his head down, muscles tense, and far away from the others. His arms were wrapped tightly around himself; his legs were nearly crossed with how closely they were to each other.

Geoff sighed and looked away. This again.

“Alright, fine. But only one night!”

 

* * *

 

 

Hours later, when the sun was just beginning to set and Ray was just beginning to bounce back, Gavin tentatively made his way over to the youngest. He sat down in front of the tree next to the one Ray was curled up under.

“Hi, X-Ray.”

The Trainer sent him a weak smile. “Hi, Vav.”

“You alright?”

Ray could only muster a nod; they sat in silence and watched as Geoff battled another Staravia, just like he’d been doing the entire day. Gavin flinched when one of Stantler’s attacks hit, but pulled out his camera regardless and started taking photos.

“Do you think he ever gets tired of training?” he asked. “I mean, he never stops! Everything for him has to be some way to strengthen his Pokémon. I swear, he even has smegging dreams about training! What’s the point?”

“I guess he just really wants to be strong,” Ray whispered. “I don’t get why he doesn’t use his other Pokémon from other regions. He’d be plenty strong if he did that…”

Gavin shrugged. “Who knows? Geoff is Geoff, I guess.”

Over with the other Trainer, he was managing to keep a conversation as he trained. Michael was standing near him, watching carefully and making sure he wasn’t hit with any of the attacks. He sighed and crossed his arms.

“What do you think is up with Ray?” Michael asked, a little quieter than before.

Geoff paused, thinking for a moment before shaking his head. “I don’t know,” he admitted softly. “I really don’t. Take Down!”

“I mean, it’s not like it’s the first time, either,” he reasoned. “Do you think he’s hiding something from us?”

“I don’t _know_ , Michael. Dodge!”

Michael uncrossed his arms and put them behind his head. “But, like, what _could_ he be hiding? Ray’s not exactly the type to be a fucking axe murderer or some shit. That seems more like Ryan’s route.”

Geoff took a step back. “Stomp, go!” he yelled before focusing back on the conversation. “I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: I think the kid was abused.”

“Should we…” The Ranger frowned. “Should we ask him? Or would that be too… you know, bold?”

“I think he’ll come to us when he wants to talk about it,” he firmly stated. “We are _not_ going to ask him. Besides, when have you ever cared about being too bold?”

“Uh, when there’s a chance of-”

“Take Down, again!”

“-Hurting someone or bringing up some terrible memories?” Michael replied, as if it were obvious.

The Staravia hit the ground with a loud _thud_ , and Geoff punched the air in excitement.

“Alright! That’s five Pokémon in one day! Nice job, Stantler!”

It grunted in adoration and ran over to Geoff, bumping his hand with its snout until he lifted it and started rubbing its head.

“Oh, Mew dammit, Geoff! Can’t you take a break or something?” Jack snapped.

The Trainer grinned and flipped him off, but put his Pokémon back into its PokeBall anyway. “I guess I was planning on ending soon anyway…,” he mumbled. “Michael, wanna go climb a tree with me?”

“Fuck yeah, I do!”

“Then let’s go!”

The two ran off, and Jack sighed as the Staravia stumbled over to him, Ryan, Growlithe, and the other four members of its flock. The Pokémon Doctor waved it over to his side, and he started inspecting its injuries immediately.

“At least he went easy on you,” he considered. “Ryan, can you hand me a Potion and a couple of bandages?”

With a nod, the Breeder handed him the equipment, forgetting about his small shoulder injury until a sharp pain jolted through the joint. He winced, nearly dropping everything and earning a worried look from the younger.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

Ryan nodded, giving him a weak smile. “I’m fine. It’s just still a little sore from that Team Freelancer thing yesterday.”

Jack took the items out of his hands, but kept his eyes on the older. “You know, I still need to have a look at that,” he reminded. “How about once I’m done with this-”

“ _No!_ ”

The ginger flinched and stared; Ryan took a deep breath and laughed weakly.

“I-I mean, it’s fine,” he stated, trying to cover himself. “You don’t need to. I’m sure it’ll be fine, just as long as we give it a couple of days.”

Growlithe rubbed against his leg, knowing on instinct that that wasn’t the complete reason. Jack quickly finished tending to the Staravia before turning to face the Breeder in a serious manner.

“What’s the problem with me looking at your shoulder? It’s not like it’ll take long, or it’ll be a lot to do. I just want to make sure it’s nothing serious. You don’t even have to take off your shirt all the way. Can I please just do it?”

Ryan stared at him for a long moment. “You sure it won’t take long?”

“Promise. Now let me look.”

The older held his stare for a beat longer before finally shifting over to point his shoulder at the younger. He then took off his vest and pulled the collar of his shirt over just far enough for Jack to look at the joint in question.

The Pokémon Doctor raised an eyebrow. “Wouldn’t it be easier to just roll your sleeve up?”

Ryan gave him a hard glare; Jack took the hint and shut up.

After a couple of minutes of poking and prodding and flinching, Jack leaned back and dug an ice pack out of his bag. As he crushed it up, he explained, “I don’t think it’s anything serious, but it is pretty swelled up, probably because you haven’t exactly done anything to treat it. As long as you rest it tonight and keep that ice pack on there, it’ll be fine.”

The older thanked him and got up to go join the youngest two.

 

* * *

 

 

The stars were just beginning to poke into the sky when Geoff called them over to eat. Ray and Gavin raced each other to the food, while Ryan rolled his eyes and followed at a leisurely pace. Once the youngest two reached the area, Michael jumped down from the tree he’d been hiding in and onto the ground right in front of Gavin. The Photographer screeched and slammed into him, knocking them both to the ground. Jack just sighed and accepted the offered bowl from Geoff.

“Idiots,” he breathed. Geoff laughed loudly and nodded as Ray ran up and tapped his arm.

“I win!” he yelled.

Gavin crawled off of the Ranger and pouted. “Aw, Mi-cool, you made me lose!”

The older sighed. “Why, yes, Gavin, I’m fine, thanks for asking. Dickhead.”

“Mi-cool!”

He stood and walked towards Geoff. “Shut the fuck up, idiot.”

Gavin frowned and crossed his arms. A hand came into his field of vision; he looked up and saw Ryan giving him an amused smile. The younger shook his head and stood up on his own.

“Ryan, aren’t you supposed to be resting your shoulder?” he pointed out.

The older rolled his eyes. “I was offering my _left_ hand. It’s my right that’s hurt.”

“Still!”

The Breeder shoved the Photographer forwards. “Just go get your food, you asshat.”

Eventually, the group was sat around with each other, sharing conversation and occasionally ridding themselves of the arguments that broke out. By this point, Ray had fully recovered, and he would throw out sarcastic statements every once in a while that would have the other Lads laughing hysterically.

It was just after one of said moments when Geoff felt a pinch at his side. He had thankfully been done eating, so when he jumped and the bowl went flying, there was no content to go with it. Growlithe managed to catch the bowl before it could shatter on the ground; Jack was halfway stood when Geoff waved him off.

“Fucking Starly!” he snapped. “What the hell do you want?!”

“Aw, it likes you, Geoffrey!” Gavin cooed. “That’s so damn cute!”

“If it really liked me, it wouldn’t be pecking at me like- _ow_! Fucking cut it out!”

It jumped back into a defensive stance and started to chirp at him. He groaned and looked to the sky. Raising an eyebrow, Michael looked between the two.

“It looks like it wants to battle,” he commented. “Why don’t you? You’ve been training all day anyway.”

“It’s a little late for that, don’t you think?” Ryan pointed out.

Jack nodded. “Besides, it still hasn’t fully recovered from those burns from before. It should be fine by tomorrow. Maybe you should wait until then?”

Geoff looked back at the group and shook his head with a glare. “No fucking way! I don’t want to battle _that_ Starly again! It’s fucking weak as dicks!”

The Starly went to attack the older Trainer again, but Gavin grabbed it just before it got off of the ground. “Mew damn, Geoff. Isn’t that a little harsh?”

“Fuck no, it’s not!”

The Photographer frowned and held the Starling Pokémon in a similar manner to how he’d usually hold his Togepi. Ray looked over, watching as it growled and curled up angrily. Tentatively, he scooted over to them and tilted is head towards it.

“I’ll battle you again, if you want,” he said softly.

The Flying Type glared at him, but he swore he spotted a short glimmer of hope in its eyes. With a small smile, he turned away and began to mentally prepare himself for the next morning’s task.

 

* * *

 

 

“Gavin, you _fuck_!”

“Ahhh, Mi-cool! Mi-cool, stop! Mi-cool!”

“You fucking moron!”

Geoff sighed as he rolled onto his back and threw his arm over his eyes. “One morning,” he mumbled, “One morning I’m going to wake up on my own. No yelling or screaming. On my own.”

“ _Mi-cool!_ ”

“Today is not that morning.”

He sat up and turned to look at the two on the ground a few feet away. The one on pinning the other down noticed and grinned at him.

“Morning, Geoff!” he laughed.

The oldest glared. “Can’t you guys go one morning without fucking around?”

“Geoff! Geoff, help!” Gavin screeched. “Get him off of me!”

“Nope,” he replied, climbing out of his sleeping bag. “You got yourself into this, you can get your little ass out.”

“But Geoff!”

“You heard him, dickwad! Fucking try it!”

The Trainer walked towards the other two Gents and shook his head. “Those fucking idiots,” he grumbled. Jack gave him an amused smile and a mug of coffee while Ryan sighed in a frustrated manner.

“They’re going to wake Ray up,” he pointed out. “Can’t they go one morning without fucking around like that?!”

“That’s what I asked!”

“Do you think someone should stop them?” Jack asked, watching the conscious Lads squabble.

Ryan let out a breath and started down. “I’ve got it.”

The other two watched him until Jack turned to Geoff. “So… Any plans for Gubbin?”

Geoff took a drink of his coffee and sat on the ground next to where the younger was standing, taking note of the fact that Growlithe was sleeping nearby. “Unless I can find a water type, which is pretty fucking unlikely, it’s gonna be Stantler and Luxio all the way.”

“Why not Vulpix?” Jack asked, joining the older on the ground.

“Flash Fire. It’s an ability that allows Fire Types to take in Fire Type attacks and heal them. I don’t wanna risk the other team having that.” He took another drink. “Although, I guess it would be good to use, since that’s Vulpix’s ability.”

Before Jack could comment, Ryan made his way back with Michael and Gavin’s collars each in a hand and Ray stumbling tiredly behind him. The Gents shared a glance before the Breeder forced the two Lads to sit across from the Trainer and Doctor. He sat down next to them, and Ray flopped down next to Michael.

“Alright, we need to fucking talk about this shit,” Geoff snapped. “You little fuckers need to stop fucking around so Mew damn early every morning!”

Ray tensed and sat up a bit, reaching up to rub his eye. “Wait, what’re we doing, again?” he mumbled.

“Not you, Ray. I’m talking to Michael and Gavin.”

“Oh.” Slowly, the youngest crawled over to sit next to Ryan.

Michael crossed his arms. “Well, then Gavin needs to stop fucking pissing me off every morning!”

“I’m cheerful in the mornings! Is that a bloody crime, Mi-cool?”

“Shut the fuck up. Let us fucking talk, assholes.”

As Geoff began a long lecture over how pissed he was about the constant fighting, Gavin turned his focus onto trying to focus. He forced his eyes to stay on the older Trainer, so much so that he kept his mind off of the words. When he tried to focus on that, for each word he heard there was a string of thoughts to follow. Eventually, the Photographer gave up and let his eyes wander and his mind work on other things.

At one point, he caught sight of Ray’s eyes fluttering shut as he unconsciously flopped against Ryan, who softly placed a hand on the younger’s knee and gently rubbed it with his thumb. His eyes followed Growlithe as it trotted over and curled up in the younger Trainer’s lap. He noticed the way Michael was glaring at Geoff while he yelled, and he imagined him yelling back in his thoughts. _This is fucking bullshit. We can do what we want! We’re not kids!_ Gavin saw Jack worriedly watching the Ranger, as well, and he could practically see him preparing to hold him back if said thoughts broke into words. And if he looked closely enough, he could see that behind the anger in Geoff’s eyes, there was a rapidly developing layer of care over the well being of everyone in the group.

Gavin didn’t like migraines, but he could deal with them if it meant seeing little things like this during the prodromes.

“Do you get it?” Geoff asked, finishing his little speech.

Gavin nodded, having a slight understanding from what he’d seen earlier. Michael gave a curt agreement before getting up and storming off towards a tree. The oldest sighed and shook his head.

“Honestly, it’s like everything I say goes right through his fucking head like it’s nothing…”

The Photographer had to bite his lip to keep from pointing out the truth.

Jack stood up and brushed himself off, watching Growlithe hop off of Ray and run towards Michael. “Well, I’m going to go talk to him. Ryan, do you want to come with me?”

The Breeder glanced down at the Trainer on him and shook his head. “I would, but I think Ray’s asleep. I don’t want to wake him up again.”

“M’awake…”

“You don’t need to be. Go back to sleep, kid.”

Ray hummed and went silent.

After an understanding nod, Jack turned and made his way over to the tree Michael had run off towards. He looked up and saw the younger sat upon a branch a few feet out of reach, leaning against the trunk with arms crossed and eyes sending a dirty look to the space in front of him. His partner Pokémon was staring up at him from a few branches below with a sympathetic look. Jack sighed.

 

* * *

 

 

Ryan was okay with being quiet, usually. He liked peace. It helped him sort out his thoughts, and he enjoyed that. This, however, he did not like as much; the tense silence that followed Geoff’s long lecture made him worry, and after he, Michael, and Jack had left, Ryan was left with the sleeping Ray and the zoning out Gavin.

He might have thanked Arceus a little too much when, at the same time that Ray was waking up, Jack was making his way over.

The youngest yawned slightly and rubbed at his eyes. “How long was I out…?” he mumbled.

“Only, like, ten minutes. It wasn’t too long.”

He sat up, running his hand over his face. Jack gave the two a smile before turning to Gavin.

“We need to talk.”

The Photographer simply stared at him for a minute. “…What?”

“I said, we need to talk.” Before Gavin could reply, the ginger reached down and grabbed him by the arm. He pulled him onto his feet as he added, “Come on.”

As they walked off, the Breeder and Trainer shared a glance. “Wonder what they’re doing?” Ryan commented.

Ray was silent for a moment, before he sat up straighter and looked around. “H-Hey, where’s that Starly? It wanted to battle last night, didn’t it?”

As if it had been on cue, the Starly flew down from one of the trees and landed in front of them with a cry of determination. Ray gave it a smile and stood up.

“Does this mean you’re ready?”

It nodded eagerly; Ray turned and started to run towards the edge of the clearing.

“Awesome! Let’s do this!”

Ryan got up and moved to a tree near where the youngest was standing- the same tree that their bags were under. “Good luck, Ray,” he quickly said.

The Trainer turned and gave him a grin and a thumbs up. “Thanks!” Quickly, he sent out both of his Pokémon. While Budew stayed next to its owner, Cyndaquil assumed battle stance in front of them.

“Uh, Ray? What’re you doing with Budew?” Ryan asked.

“I want it to watch,” he answered. “Watching helps you learn, doesn’t it? So it’ll help Budew battle, right?”

The Breeder smiled and nodded. “Sure, I guess.”

“Then that’s what we’ll do!” The dark haired held out his hand. “Okay, Cyndaquil, use Ember!”

The small flames shot out of its mouth, but instead of dodging it, the Starly crossed its wings and let it hit. Ray frowned and cocked his head to the side a bit.

“Why does it keep doing that…?”

As soon as the attack ended, Starly launched itself towards Cyndaquil. Ray took a step back.

“Shit! Dodge it!”

The Fire Mouse Pokémon leapt up and over just in time, forcing Starly to completely miss and crash into the ground.

“Now, Tackle!”

Cyndaquil slammed its full body weight into the Starling Pokémon, and it skidded through the dirt. It stumbled back onto its feet and swiftly returned the gesture. Ray bit his lip as he watched Cyndaquil get knocked away.

“You okay?”

It nodded after standing; the Trainer smiled and pulled his hand into a fist.

“Alright! Tackle again!”

As Cyndaquil threw itself at the Starly again, Ray felt a poking at his leg. He glanced down and raised an eyebrow at Budew.

“What’s up?” he asked.

With a look of determination on its face, it turned and scurried over towards Ryan and the bags. The two humans shared a look of confusion, but Ray’s attention was quickly turned back to the battle when he heard a cry from Cyndaquil. His gaze landed on his Pokémon, back on the ground, and Starly pulling its wing back in.

“Dammit! Cyndaquil, if you can, use Ember!” he yelled.

It staggered up and shot the flames out of its mouth; Starly stumbled back from the force of it.

Before Ray could call out another attack, Budew was back at his feet, jumping up and down to get his attention. He noticed a little shimmer in its mouth, and when he bent down and pulled whatever it was out, he found a PokeBall in his hands.

“Do… Do you want me to catch Starly?” he asked tentatively.

Budew nodded vigorously; Ray smiled and nodded.

“Alright,” he said, “I can do that. Cyndaquil, hit it once more with Tackle!”

With a short battle cry, the Fire Type slammed into the Flying Type and knocked it to the ground. It began to push itself back up with its wings, but it was shaking the entire way. Ray took his chance.

“PokeBall, go!”

The capture device hit Starly straight on and enveloped it in a red light, which quickly took the Pokémon and dissolved. Ray, Ryan, and the Pokémon watched closely as it shook once, twice, three times…

_Ding!_

 

* * *

 

 

Geoff was finally starting to calm down when Jack walked over to him. He gave the younger man a cynical smile and turned away, watching Gavin hurry over to the tree that Michael was hiding in.

“Did you manage to talk some sense into that Ranger asshole?” he asked.

Jack shrugged and put his hand behind his neck. “Well… I’m not sure about _that_ , but I think I figured out a way to keep them from fighting,” he explained. “Gavin was making some jerk-ass comments to Michael, so I talked to him about stopping. Although, I don’t know if I even got through to him! He seemed pretty fucking out of it.” He laughed quietly; Geoff rolled his eyes.

“Honestly, what is with those two lately? It’s like they suddenly decided to stop paying attention to anyone but each other!”

“Maybe they’re fucking,” Jack laughed sarcastically.

Geoff laughed. “Yeah, I’m sure Gavin’s girlfriend would just love that.”

“Geoff! Geoff!”

At the sound of his name, the older Trainer turned to watch the younger one rushing up to them with a PokeBall in his hand, his Pokémon and Ryan trailing behind at a much slower pace. Geoff chuckled and raised an eyebrow.

“What’s up, bud?” he questioned.

Once he reached them, Ray paused to catch his breath. “I caught it!” he exclaimed as soon as he regained his composure. “I caught a Starly!”

Jack grinned at him. “Hey, that’s great!”

The oldest frowned. “Wait, the one that kept trying to battle me yesterday?”

Ryan finally made it over to them and nodded. “Yeah, and it was a pretty skilled battle, if I have anything to say about it. There was a really small chance that Ray _wouldn’t_ have caught it.”

The frown stayed put. “Why would you catch _that_ Starly, though?” Geoff asked. “That one’s weak as dicks! Why didn’t you catch one of the Staravia or something?”

Ray shrunk back a bit, the smile dissolving within a split second. “I… I dunno…”

“Aaaah, Mi-cool! Mi-cool, stop!”

“Come here, Dickie Bitch!”

Geoff groaned. “Jack, I thought you said you fixed it!”

“I think he did,” Ryan said. “Look at them.”

Michael was chasing Gavin through the clearing with a big grin on each of their faces; Growlithe was right behind them, barking wildly and encouraging Cyndaquil and Budew to join in. Ray sent out Starly to join in on the fun, and it quickly cut Gavin off enough for Michael to catch him. The Ranger grabbed him around the shoulders with one arm and used the other to roughly ruffle his hair. The Photographer’s screams mixed in with his laughs until they were both on the ground.

Geoff hummed. “Huh. So maybe their fighting isn’t always because they’re pissed, after all.”

“Looks like that’s just how they work,” Jack added.

Budew ran over to Starly and jumped on its back, giving an encouraging cry, and the next thing they knew, the Grass Type was airborne on the back of the Flying Type. Ray made a worried noise and ran over.

“Budew, what are you doing?!”

It gave a cry of joy, and the two Fire Types on the ground cheered. Gavin and Michael stood up.

“That looks like it’d be fun as hell!” Gavin laughed. “Mi-cool, let’s try it!”

“Gavin, no.”

“Mi-cool…!”

“Not on a fucking Starly, you dumbass. A Staraptor, maybe. Not a fucking Starly.”

The Gubbin native’s eyes lit up, and he dragged the Ranger over towards the flock. “Let’s do it! I’ll bring out Togepi, too!”

Michael rolled his eyes and let himself be pulled, turning to Ray and asking, “You wanna join in, Ray?”

The Trainer grinned and hurried to catch up.

The Gents all gave each other looks, but Geoff shrugged and smirked.

“Why the hell not? Let’s do it too.”

Before long, all six Achievement Hunters were flying around on the backs of Staraptor. The Lads each had a Pokémon with them; while Michael and Ray kept theirs sat in front of them, Gavin kept one arm around Togepi and one held onto Staraptor. He glanced down and gripped it tighter.

“I’m starting to rethink this!” he hollered over the wind.

Michael laughed. “Your own fault, dumbass!”

“I know it is!”

Jack clutched his Staraptor with both arms. “You’re not the only one, Gavin!”

Geoff directed his Flying Type over next to Jack’s. “How pissed would you be if I knocked you off?”

“Extremely!”

Ryan swooped by, laughing hysterically and a big grin plastered on his face. “This is so much fun!” he screamed. “I understand what it’s like to be Elphaeba, and the Wizard!”

“Who?” Geoff yelled.

The Breeder ignored the question in favor of flying off again. With a sigh, the oldest watched him go.

Ray remained silent throughout the flight, but his eyes stayed on the ground below him. He was amazed that Gavin wasn’t snapping photos every other second, because he thought it looked beautiful from up here. The trees were far down, but he could still see everything going on in the forest. He watched a Caterpie evolving into a Metapod and sticking itself to a tree; a Linoon brought some berries to Zigzagoon nearby. He caught a glimpse of a battle between a Spearow and a Pikachu, which was quickly broken up by a Fearow swooping in and protecting its young.

Cyndaquil rubbed its head into his stomach, and he smiled down at it. By this point, he’d completely forgotten that he’d even had anxiety troubles with this journey in the first place. It was just so peaceful up here…

After a long while, Geoff turned to look at the others. “You guys ready to head back?”

Jack shut his eyes tightly. “ _Yes!_ ”

The Lads shrugged and nodded, and then they directed their Staraptor back towards the clearing.

They each landed on the ground in their own style; Geoff leapt off before they had touched the ground, earning a scowl from Jack. The Pokémon Doctor slipped off of his with legs of jelly and fell to the grass with a large grin. Ray stepped off of his and rubbed its head in thanks, and Michael jumped off and gave it an audible word of thanks.

When Gavin’s Staraptor landed next to Michael’s, the Photographer set down Togepi and slid off, stumbling immediately and shutting his eyes tightly. He would’ve fallen if Michael hadn’t have caught the younger before giving him a concerned look.

“Are you okay?”

Togepi rubbed against its owner’s leg while he looked up at the Ranger, one eye still shut. “I’m fine,” he mumbled. “The migraine aura settled in while we were up there. I’ll be alright.”

“Hey… Has anyone seen Ryan?” Geoff suddenly pointed out.

Everyone looked around, expecting to see the Breeder standing somewhere nearby, but coming up empty. Jack was about to yell out for him, but the voice of the missing rang out before he had the chance.

“I’m still in the air!”

All heads snapped up, and Geoff nearly fell to the ground laughing. Ryan was still flying around on his Staraptor, grin as big as ever. He threw out his arms, shut his eyes and started to belt.

“So if you care to find me, look to the Western sky! As someone told me lately, e-very-one deserves the chance to fly! And if I’m flying solo…”

The lyrics would fill the air until the Staraptor let him down, allowing the group to get ready to leave and for the journey to continue.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the read! Hope you enjoyed!
> 
> PokeDex entries from here: http://www.amazon.com/Pokemon-Essential-Handbook-Scholastic/dp/0545427711
> 
> Ryan's song this chapter: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FlMBcTGJ4YM (Towards the end)
> 
> [Comfort Ray Button]  
> [Comfort Ryan Button]  
> [Comfort Gavin Button]  
> [Comfort Michael Button]


	20. Ray's Breakdown! Panic on Route 19!!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ray's anxiety finally catches up with him fully, and he's forced to make a choice- let the rest of the Achievement Hunters treat him frailly for the rest of the journey, or tell them the truth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beacon Region Map: http://sweetiecurfyart.tumblr.com/post/111232399174/here-it-is-a-map-of-the-beacon-region-used
> 
> Art can be found here: sweetiecurfyart.tumblr.com  
> Follow me on Twitter under @Sweetie_Curfy
> 
> TW: Panic attack

With a new Pokémon on his belt, Ray and the rest of the Achievement Hunters continue their journey to Gubbin City, where their next Gym Badge awaits.

With a thud, Gavin fell to his knees and clutched his head. “Guys, we need to stop…!” he whined.

Geoff was at his side in a heartbeat, with Jack close behind. “Why? Gavin, what’s wrong?” the oldest quickly asked.

Ray quickly and quietly made his way over, peeking out from behind Jack. “Are you having another migraine?” he softly asked.

Gavin’s only response was a head nod; Jack kneeled down in front of him as Growlithe brushed against the Photographer’s knees.

“A migraine? Why didn’t you tell us you have migraines?”

“I just forgot…,” he mumbled. “It’s not that big of a deal. I’m just getting super nauseous.”

Michael walked over, and Ryan was soon behind him. “Do you need to lay down for a while?”

The Photographer took a deep breath and nodded again. “I think… I think just sleeping will be enough to take it away…”

“Do you need to take any medication?” Jack asked.

Before he could get a reply, the Gubbin native was rushing over to the bushes, retching the moment he got there. Ryan kept the other Lads away, while Geoff hurried over and began to rub his back.

“I think you might have passed it on, Ray,” Michael commented with a weak smile.

“I think you might be wrong,” Jack pointed out. “Throwing up and nausea come with migraines, from what I’ve studied. I wouldn’t bet on it being the same thing Ray had, if I were you.”

Ray let out a sigh of relief before a frown etched onto his face, watching the Photographer collapse onto his knees and curl up. “Are you sure…?” he whispered.

Jack nodded at him. “Pretty sure, at least.” He then turned to look at Geoff. “I think we should probably stop for the day, don’t you?”

“Abso-fucking-lutely,” the older replied, taking the opportunity to pull the Creeper print backpack off of Gavin. “Gubbin City can wait if we’re going to be stopping every three minutes for this idiot to vomit everywhere.”

Gavin let out a weak noise of protest; Michael walked over and pulled him to his feet.

“Alright, moron, just relax for a bit,” he said in a soft tone.

The Photographer pushed away and turned to the bushes again, screwing his eyes shut and trying to keep himself as quiet as possible. The Ranger flinched and stepped away.

“Ah, Arceus, sorry about that…”

As soon as the straw-haired had finished, he shook his head. “S’alright, boi… Just don’t do that again…,” he rasped out.

Geoff caught hold of him before he collapsed again, and he put an arm around his shoulder. “Think you’ll be able to walk?”

“I dunno,” Gavin admitted. “I mean, as long as someone helps me, I think I could…”

“I don’t want to take that chance,” Ryan cut in, walking over. Before anyone could protest, he replaced Geoff’s arm with his own around Gavin’s shoulder and hooked his other under his knees, lifting him slowly enough to keep the Photographer’s world steady.

Gavin let out a quiet squawk. “What’re you doing, you tosser?!”

“Just fucking relax. Now you can rest until we get to a spot to set up camp.”

“Oh… Thanks,” he replied, wrapping his arms around the older and pushing his eyes into his shoulder to block out the light.

As soon as he was sure Gavin wasn’t going to squirm off, Ryan turned to the others. “We should probably get going, then.”

 

* * *

 

 

Once Gavin was comfortably settled and sleeping under a nearby tree, the rest of the group began to set up camp for the evening. Ray took the job of setting up Gavin’s stuff, which gave him a few much-needed moments for just himself and his thoughts.

Ever since he’d met Gavin, he realized, he had hardly had a moment to himself like this. Back at home, things like this were extremely rare. The holidays were probably about the only time. There would be family everywhere- in his room, in his mother’s room, in the living room… Hell, on the big years, they’d even be sleeping in the closets. Thankfully, they’d only ever be there for a week or two, so he wasn’t too worked up over it. He’d maybe have a few anxiety attacks while hidden in the bathroom, and possibly a panic attack on the day after they left, but that’d be about it.

But this… He’d been with these five men, these _strangers_ , for almost six weeks now, and all that had happened so far were a couple of anxiety attacks. He wasn’t even sure that that second one even _counted_ as an anxiety attack.

He felt himself beginning to shake. How was he more comfortable with these guys than his own family? More importantly… how could he have not had a panic attack yet? He used to have them all the time…

With a few deep breaths, he sat on the ground and shut his eyes. He was _not_ going to let his first panic attack happen today.

Quickly, he finished setting up and hurried over to the rest of the Achievement Hunters, putting on a brave face and dealing with the social interaction for just a little bit longer.

 

* * *

 

 

When Ray woke up the next morning, he could tell it was coming. The way his heart was beating quicker than usual was a clear indication. He threw an arm over his face, cursing himself for even thinking about it the day before. He knew that he needed to tell someone, any of them, really, but as he climbed out of his sleeping bag, he realized that he was already in too deep to do so. So he stayed silent.

Breakfast was not easy on him in the slightest. A now-recovered Gavin and Michael had an argument as always, but this one consisted of some anger-fueled screaming. Ryan attempted to calm them down, but he ended up joining in and getting just as furious. Hearing that just made Ray’s heartbeat speed up in panic.

In the middle of that were Jack and Geoff having their own argument, although theirs was, thankfully, much calmer. It was still pretty heated, but the youngest just couldn’t get himself to pay attention to what it was about for the life of him.

The panic attack nearly hit when Growlithe began to wrestle with Umbreon, creating a loud ruckus that got the rest of the Pokémon yelling at them. Somehow, Ray managed to keep it together, although it took up all of his willpower to do so. He knew that he wouldn’t be able to keep it back any longer later, but that was future Ray’s problem.

When they were packing up later, the Trainer’s hands were buzzing with anxiety. It was because of this that he kept dropping pretty much everything he lifted, which led to him being the only reason they weren’t on the road yet. That was enough to make him feel like he was just being a bother, and that fear was heightened when Gavin yelled at him in a joking tone to hurry up. He had to take a few deep breaths to keep from vomiting on the spot.

He eventually finished, and they were soon on the road with the arguments still rolling. Compared to a couple of hours prior, however, things were a bit more hostile. There were cheeky shoves that plowed someone into Ray, and people trying to convince him into joining their side of the argument; it was when Gavin tried to jump on the youngest that he knew he wasn’t going to be able to hold back for much longer. He gently let the Photographer fall off of his shoulders, which earned him a comment from the older about being grumpy, and fell to the back of the group to see if maybe he could prevent it until he was completely alone.

His body didn’t cooperate. Soon after the crew had stopped paying attention to him, his heartbeat increased to the point where he could swear it was rattling his entire body, and he assumed the others would be able to hear it. His lungs suddenly couldn’t seem to get enough air, no matter how much he breathed in; he felt like the world around him had turned into a dream- that or had just completely filled up with water. The voices in front of him dissolved into nothing, and he didn’t even realize he was falling until he felt a stinging pain in his knees.

_Oh my Mew. This is it. This is the one that’s going to kill me. This isn’t even a panic attack, this is a fucking heart attack. Can people get heart attacks at my age? Who the fuck even cares, it’s happening and I’m going to die. Fuck, I’m gonna die._

* * *

 

 

When the distinct _thud_ of skin-to-ground hit their ears, the group’s turn was synchronized. Their stomachs dropped when they saw the youngest on his hands and knees, one hand clutching his chest as he gasped for air. Geoff was first at his side, followed by Jack; Gavin moved to join them, but Ryan grabbed his sleeve and held him back before he got too far.

“Ray? Buddy, what’s wrong?” Geoff asked urgently. “Are you having trouble breathing? What’s happening?”

Jack placed a hand on his back, trying to determine what the problem was, to which the Trainer answered when he flinched away. The Pokémon Doctor frowned and looked at the oldest.

“I think he’s having a panic attack,” he concluded.

Geoff’s face paled slightly, and he put his hand on Ray’s shoulder firmly enough that he couldn’t pull away. “Ray, can you hear me? Look at me, kiddo. Try to focus on me, okay?”

Slowly, the youngest brought his head up to look at the oldest, whose concern only grew when he saw the terrified look in his eyes. “I’m gonna die…,” he rasped out breathlessly.

“No, you’re not,” he responded softly. “You’re going to be fine, understand? You’ll be okay. Just focus on your breathing.”

Shutting his eyes tightly, Ray shook his head. “Can’t… Can’t do it…”

Geoff gently pulled the younger’s glasses off and wiped some of the sweat off of his pale face. “Yes, you can. You’ll be okay. Try to breathe with me, okay?” He started taking long, exaggerated breaths, praying to Arceus that the kid would know to follow.

“I-I can’t… Geoff…!”

He shushed him before he could go on. “Hey, it’s alright. Just… Just come here, okay?” He pulled Ray into his arms, holding him tightly enough to be able to feel his breathing against his chest- and, to his concern, also his fluttering pulse. He frowned and started taking exaggerated breaths again. “Now can you try? You can do this, Ray. You’re alright.”

He didn’t hear any protests, so Geoff assumed that he was going to at least make an attempt. He felt Ray begin to clutch tightly to him, and this made him return the gesture. Eventually, he felt the breathing slow down just the slightest bit. He gave a gentle smile.

“See? You’re doing it. You’re going to be fine.”

Slowly, but surely, the youngest began to come back to them. Geoff could feel his heart slowing down, and the grip began to loosen against his shirt. After a few more minutes, Ray pulled away and looked up at the oldest, who gave him a reassuring smile.

“Are you back with us, kiddo?”

Ray’s shaky and unsure nod was enough for Geoff to relax. The youngest shut his eyes tightly and bit his lip.

“I-I’m really sorry,” he whispered. “I thought I had it handled. I’m so sorry.”

Geoff raised an eyebrow, the worry being replaced with confusion. “Did you know what was happening?” he asked. When Ray nodded, he added, “Have you had them before?”

The youngest swallowed thickly and nodded again. “I-I used to have them all the time. This is the first one I’ve had since I left home. I’m sorry.”

The oldest rolled his eyes and pulled Ray back into his arms. “Don’t be sorry. You can’t control these things. You have nothing to apologize for.”

“What _did_ just happen?” Michael asked, reminding the Trainers that the others were close by. “Is Ray alright?”

Geoff set Ray back onto the ground and stood up to face them. “He’s fine,” he explained. “What just happened is called a panic attack. I’ll explain what that means to you later, but I think we need to stop for the day for now.”

“What?” Gavin exclaimed. “But we’ve hardly gone anywhere! Plus it’s still the morning!”

Geoff glared. “We’re stopping, asshole. No arguments. Ray needs to relax after that.”

The others stayed silent until Ray stumbled up on shaky legs. “I-It’s okay,” he mumbled, just audible enough for Geoff to hear. “I’m fine. We can keep going.”

The oldest took hold of his wrist. “The fact that you’re shaking like hell says otherwise. We’re stopping for the day.”

“But I always shake like this,” Ray protested.

“I don’t care,” Geoff replied, his frown reappearing. “I don’t want you having another panic attack because we pushed you too far.”

The youngest fell silent; with a sigh, Geoff handed his glasses back and pulled him in a seeming random direction.

“We’re done for the day. Come on.”

 

* * *

 

 

Once they found another clearing to spend the day at, Jack took Ray off to make sure he was, in fact, okay, while Ryan and Growlithe were put in charge of setting things up. Geoff took Gavin and Michael on a walk to gather firewood and explain what had happened.

As soon as they were out of sight of the site, Geoff turned to look at the two Lads. “Are you two okay?”

They both looked at him with raised eyebrows. “Why?” Michael asked.

The oldest picked up a few twigs before responding. “Panic attacks are scary as dicks to witness, at least the first time. I assume that was the first time either of you have seen them. How are you dealing with it?”

The Ranger frowned and looked at the ground. “It’s… Weird. I don’t know how to react, to be honest,” he admitted. “Do you think he’ll have any more of them?”

“I assume so. He said he’s had them before.” Geoff then looked at Gavin, noting the zoned out look on his face and his uncharacteristic silence that had lasted since his small outburst after the incident. “What about you, Gavin?”

Keeping his eyes on the ground, he shook his head. “I dunno.” He directed his gaze to meet the oldest’s. “Is X-Ray going to be alright?”

Geoff let a small smile form on his lips. “He’ll be fine, Gav. Don’t worry about it.”

“I can’t not worry about it!” the Photographer suddenly exclaimed. “I don’t even know what happened!”

“He had a panic attack. Geoff said that already!” Michael responded.

“I don’t understand what that is! That’s just words to me!”

“Gavin, calm down,” the oldest ordered, grabbing the younger’s shoulders. “A panic attack is when your body goes into panic mode without any real reasoning behind it. You can’t breathe, you can’t think, all of that shit. There’s nothing you can do about it until it passes. Something must have spooked Ray enough to send him into that.”

Gavin was quiet for a moment, turning to look at the ground. Michael walked over and looked at Geoff. “What do we do next time he has one? What if you’re not around for it to calm him down?”

“Try to help him calm down,” Geoff stated. “Do whatever you need to do. Try to control his breathing, hum to him, whatever. Most importantly, don’t freak out. That’s only going to make it worse for him.”

The Photographer looked up, eyes shimmering with tears. “C-Can he die from them?”

Geoff pulled the younger into a hug, shaking his head. “Of course not, idiot. He might think he’s going to, but he won’t. You have nothing to worry about it.”

Gavin took a deep breath and pushed away. “Okay… Alright.”

After giving him a gentle smile, the Gent began to pick up fallen branches again. “Come on, dickheads. Let’s hurry up and get this shit so we can head back soon.”

The Lads nodded and quickly began to follow his actions.

 

* * *

 

 

It was the early hours of the morning; everyone was huddled in their sleeping bags while the dew began to settle on the grass. The moon was brighter than their futures were, and the nocturnal Pokémon were keeping their cries quiet. It was rather relaxing, which is why Ryan was seriously wondering why the hell he was still awake.

He was glaring at the stars as he lay on his back. It wasn’t as if anything particularly scary had happened today- even though Ray had his panic attack, he’d seen those before. Nothing was new about that. He’d watched a couple of people come out of the gym in Canalave hyperventilating like Ray had been, or they’d come back with injured Pokémon from Iron Island trembling so much that they couldn’t stand. None of those ever made Ryan lose any sleep; why was this so different?

He rolled onto his side and stared in the direction that Ray’s sleeping bag was in. Maybe it was less the fact that it was a panic attack, and more that it was the youngest who had fallen victim to it.

Using his elbows as leverage, the Breeder pushed himself up into a sitting position to catch a glimpse of the dark haired. _That must be it_ , he thought. _There’s gotta be something wrong with him…_

If it weren’t for the fact that Gavin and Geoff were on either side of Ray, Ryan would have moved his sleeping bag near his. Instead, he crawled out and walked over, sitting cross-legged nearby so he could carefully look over him. Was he sick again? That couldn’t be right; he wasn’t as pale as he was in Entity City. Did someone do something to make him afraid of them? Maybe he just didn’t like them at all. Would that have been enough to give him a panic attack?

Ryan leaned back onto his hands. Maybe there was something seriously wrong with him, something that he didn’t want to tell them. Maybe he was keeping secrets. Whatever it was, the Breeder was really beginning to hope that he’d come to them about it. Things like this were not normal, at least in a health way.

He frowned deeper and leaned forward, making sure to keep his voice quiet as he sung to himself to relax.

“Poor little person, with eyes so sad, where in the dark did they hide you? What could you have seen to teach you that haunted stare…? Poor little creature, it makes me mad, to think of the childhood denied you; but give us a chance, and we’ll make it alright, I swear…”

 

* * *

 

 

Ray woke up the next morning to an unnatural silence; for a moment, he thought he had dreamed the entirety of the journey so far, since he was so used to yelling and _thuds_ from punches and everything. He sat up in confusion, expecting to find an answer, but ended up even more perplexed when he saw everyone being calm for once.

Gavin and Michael were quietly sitting with their Pokémon in their laps, each with a brush in their hands. Gavin looked to be explaining something to Michael, and the Ranger was listening interestedly.

A few feet away from them, the Gents were setting up for their meal; Geoff, as always, was cooking, while Ryan and Jack were setting out the bowls for the Pokémon. Their Pokémon were silently running around behind them, along with Ray’s Budew and Starly.

When the Trainer pulled his glasses on, he saw his Cyndaquil looking up at him from where it was sat to the left of him. He gave it a confused smile and picked it up, crawling out of his sleeping bag and walking over to the other Lads.

As soon as they saw him, they smiled and shifted over to make room for him. The youngest joined them and returned the gesture.

“Morning, Ray,” Michael said. “How’re you feeling?”

The question only deepened Ray’s confusion. “Uh… Fine?”

“That’s great!”

Gavin gave Michael a look that Ray couldn’t quite read, and when the Ranger caught it, he raised an eyebrow.

“What?”

The Photographer pressed his lips together. “Don’t you remember that thing Geoff was talking to us about yesterday…?” he asked quietly, clearly intending for only Michael to hear it.

“Yeah? What’s that got to do with anything?” the older retorted.

Giving Ray a glance, the straw haired leaned over and whispered something into Michael’s ear, who rolled his eyes and replied, “That’s _not_ going to set him off, dumbass.”

_That’s_ what was up with everyone.

“You don’t know that,” Gavin quietly pointed out. “We don’t know what will or won’t.”

Michael sighed and began to brush Growlithe again. “Exactly, and we don’t know what did it before, so why should we act like everything we do now will start it?”

Ray frowned and looked down at Cyndaquil. He really did _not_ want to deal with this right now. Quietly, he got up and began to walk over towards the Gents.

“I’m gonna go see if they need any help,” he stated. “I’ll talk to you guys later.”

Before they could respond, he rushed over to the older three, hoping to at least be treated as normal.

His hopes were completely destroyed almost the moment he got there. Ryan and Jack were both extremely careful with him, as if anything they did would cause him to detonate and explode. They wouldn’t let him help, nor would they let him play with the Pokémon. Even Geoff was cautionary with him, although his was to a much lesser extent. He still talked to the younger Trainer, but he kept his voice quiet and the topics calm.

The last straw didn’t come until they were eating. Gavin said something to make Michael angry, to which the older responded by yelling. Ryan said the Ranger’s name in a warning tone, and he calmed down immediately.

Ray didn’t know he was doing it until he heard himself, but soon after that he burst out a loud, “ _Dammit_ , guys, I’m not a Mew damn fucking bomb!”

Everyone flinched, and Ray would be lying if he said he didn’t do the same. He had been staring at the ground, and when he looked up, he saw five pairs of wide eyes staring at him. Letting out a breath he hadn’t even realized he’d been holding, he set his food down and grabbed the hem of his shirt.

“I-I have an anxiety disorder, okay?!” he snapped. “I have panic attacks sometimes. I have anxiety attacks sometimes. That doesn’t automatically mean that you guys can treat me like I’m a fucking piece of glass! Just because I can’t handle as much social interaction as you guys, or physically can’t do certain things sometimes doesn’t mean that if I hear loud noises or something like that that I’m going to have a fucking panic attack on the spot! I’m _not_ that different, so stop fucking treating me like I am!”

Gavin and Michael exchanged looks of guilt, as did Jack and Ryan. Geoff just stared at him like he’d just explained the whole universe. The youngest caught his eye, but quickly looked away and continued on his tangent.

“I have trouble doing things sometimes, but that doesn’t mean I can never do them. Something that gives me an anxiety attack one day might be what pulls me out of one on another. There are some days when even being around certain people freak me out, and then other times I can be in a crowd of complete strangers and be fine. Things that are new make me panic a lot of the time, and this _entire_ experience is new right now. I hardly know you guys, I have no idea where the hell we are aside from the map, and I don’t know how to be a fucking Trainer. I’m _going_ to be having anxiety attacks a lot for a while, and if we’re going to travel together, that’s something you guys are going to have to get used to, because I can’t change it. I’ve tried- believe me, I have tried so many fucking times, but it just doesn’t work. I mean…” He paused, thoughts running through his head at a mile a minute. “I mean, unless you don’t want to travel with me, since I have this. I-It’s fine if you don’t, but-”

“X-Ray, don’t say that!” Gavin suddenly cut in.

Ray looked at him in surprise, and the Photographer continued.

“Of course we still want to travel with you, you dope! Do you seriously think that just because you’ve got a mingy brain means that we don’t like you?” He laughed. “Ray, I’ve got a mingy brain, too. Not in the same way, but migraines screw me over a lot, and I’m sure everyone here’s got something like that to hide. You’re not alone on this.”

The Trainer was paralyzed. He looked at each of the other’s faces; Ryan and Michael were both a little pale, but smiling. Geoff was staring at the ground, a distant look in his eyes as if he was remembering something from long ago. Jack looked as if he was trying to figure something out- something that was just on the tip of his tongue. He looked back to Gavin, who shrugged with a soft smile.

“Don’t worry about panic attacks and stuff, X-Ray,” he said. “We don’t care about those. We just care about you and your well-being.”

It was at this point that Ray realized that he was trembling, and that there was a large lump in his throat. Swallowing it away, he weakly returned the smile and said with a crack in his voice, “Okay.”

The next thing he knew, Gavin had tackled him into a large hug and knocked them both to the ground. The younger laughed and hugged him back, and as the others made noises of acknowledgement, he had a wave of relief in knowing that he was going to be just fine as the journey continued.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the read!! Hope you enjoyed!
> 
> (Also, it took me until after I wrote this chapter to realize that I have, in fact, had panic attacks in the past, so if you see anything wrong or there are things that don't really go with panic attacks, please tell me ^^; )
> 
> I apologize, also, for the long ass paragraphs at the end. I kinda let my own feelings loose and then just... didn't take them back? But I still apologize because they're long as dicks.
> 
> Ryan's song this chapter: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSj_YrXXTps (This is one of the many where the entire song gets the point across better than just the lyrics I posted... Which is most of them, actually)
> 
> [Comfort Ray Button]  
> [Comfort Gavin Button]  
> [Comfort Michael Button]  
> [Comfort Jack Button]  
> [Comfort Ryan Button]  
> [Comfort Geoff Button]  
> (EVERYONE GETS A BUTTON THIS WEEK since they all have something they think of at the end)
> 
> Thanks again!! <3


	21. Slow It Down! Meet Blaine!!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As Jack struggles to find the time to speak privately to Geoff, and old friend comes around and makes the challenge even worse.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beacon Region Map: http://sweetiecurfyart.tumblr.com/post/111232399174/here-it-is-a-map-of-the-beacon-region-used
> 
> Art can be found here: sweetiecurfyart.tumblr.com  
> Follow me on Twitter under @Sweetie_Curfy
> 
> (Apologies this is a day late- I kind of forgot that yesterday was Monday until I was out with friends, and then we saw a movie and I forgot again... Sorry >.

The sun was nearly gone already as the Achievement Hunters continued their walk down the path. After a long day of training and walking, everyone was ready to set up camp and go to bed, but Geoff was insistent on getting just a bit further before the day ended.

Gavin let out a sigh. “Come on, Geoffrey, this path’ll be here tomorrow…”

“No fucking way. We’ve already lost a lot of time; we gotta make up for it. If we have to do it by walking into the night, then we’re going to fucking do it.”

The Photographer rolled his eyes before he felt someone run into him. Both stumbled a bit until they got settled on their feet; Ryan rubbed his eyes and stood up straighter.

“Sorry, Gavin…,” he mumbled. “It’s been a long day.”

“You’re telling me…”

Ray slowed his walk until he was stopped, raising an eyebrow at something in the distance. “Does anybody else see that light over there?”

Everyone turned their gaze to where his was, and Michael let out a sigh of relief.

“I think that’s a Pokémon Center!” he exclaimed. “Let’s make it there and then call it a night. Anyone with me?”

A chorus of agreement came from most of the group, while Geoff frowned and crossed his arms.

“That’s not that far away! I wanted to get farther than that tonight!”

Jack rolled his eyes and put a hand on the older’s shoulder to guide him forward. “You’re such a baby. We can cover that distance tomorrow.”

The Trainer made a noise of disapproval, but otherwise stayed silent and led the group towards the Pokémon Center.

 

* * *

 

 

As soon as the Gents walked into their room, Ryan dropped his bag and flopped onto one of the bottom bunks of the two bunk beds in the room. “Mm… night, guys…”

“Ryan, no,” Jack laughed. “Don’t you want to change into your pajamas first? Or at least brush your teeth?”

The Breeder groaned and pulled his knees closer to his chest. “Nooo…”

“And you call _me_ a baby,” Geoff scoffed.

Jack rolled his eyes. “Come on, man, it’ll take like five minutes.”

He sighed and finally sat up. “Fine…”

Once he left the room to go to the bathroom, Geoff threw his bag onto the bunk above Ryan’s. “He’s such a fucking child sometimes. Some days, I swear he could be one of the Lads.”

The Doctor sat on the other bottom bunk and sighed. “He’s just tired, Geoff. We all are.”

“Sounds like you guys need to get some more sleep.”

Jack bit his tongue to keep from yelling at him. It wasn’t worth it right now; he wouldn’t listen if he told him tonight that it was his fault this late. Quietly, he lay down over the blankets and resolved to talk to him in the morning.

 

* * *

 

 

When the ginger walked into the lobby the next morning, the first sight he was greeted with was the Lads sat together, with Michael and Gavin yelling at each other and Ray with his head on the table, somehow fast asleep, even through the shouts and Growlithe’s barks. Ryan was talking at a video phone, and Geoff was getting his Pokémon back from Nurse Joy. The oldest caught sight of him and waved him over.

“Hey, I think after breakfast we’re going to head out, alright?” he said. Before Jack could reply, he turned on his heel and walked over to the Lads. The youngest Gent huffed and followed with a sour look on his face.

“And he calls Ryan a child…”

Just before he made it to the table, Geoff had gotten Michael and Gavin to relax and Ray to wake up. Jack took a seat next to the youngest, watching as he pulled his glasses off and ran a hand over his face. He sighed, knowing that he needed to talk to the older Trainer soon, or else everyone would be passing out as the day went on.

Ryan was walking back over to the table, Jack took his opportunity.

“Hey, Geoff?” he said, “Could I talk to you for a-”

“Jack? Jack Pattillo?”

He shut his eyes, letting his shoulders drop and his head fall. He didn’t even need to turn around to know whose voice that was.

A pair of hands landed on his shoulders, and he opened his eyes to look up.

“It is you! No fucking way!” the man behind him cheered.

Jack forced a smile on his face. “Hey, Blaine.”

With a grin on his face, Blaine shoved his shoulders and flopped down in the seat next to him. “So your parents _finally_ let you out of Salubrity, eh? How’d you convince them to do that?”

He sat up straighter. “Well… I didn’t. I just kinda… left.”

Blaine was silent for a moment. “So you didn’t ask?” he deadpanned.

Jack shook his head.

There was another beat of quietness, before the blonde jumped up, knocking the chair to the floor out of energy.

“Why the fuck didn’t you do that when I left?! We could’ve been traveling together for months!” he yelled.

Jack flinched and leaned back in his chair, throwing his hands onto his face. When he pulled them away, he saw the rest of the Achievement Hunter crew staring at the two while Blaine set his chair back up. The ginger sighed and gestured to him.

“This is Blaine,” he explained. “He and I grew up together in Salubrity Town, and he left a few months before we did.”

Blaine grinned and nodded at them. “Yeah, we were best friends!”

“Relatively,” Jack mumbled.

“So who are these assholes, then?” Blaine asked.

Jack took a deep breath before replying. “They’re not assholes, they’re my friends. Geoff, Ryan, Michael, Gavin, and Ray. They were the ones to convince me to leave in the first place.”

“Well… That was mostly Ray,” Gavin commented. “The rest of us didn’t really do anything, to be honest.”

Blaine nodded again and leaned in towards Jack. “You know… They don’t really seem like the kind of people you’d like,” he whispered. “More like the kind of people you and I would make fun of back at home, am I right?”

As he pulled away, Jack rolled his eyes, biting his tongue to keep from yelling. He was _not_ going to make a scene in front of his friends like this… Maybe later. But not now.

Ryan put his elbow on the table and his chin in his hand. “So, were you guys planning on traveling together when you were younger?”

“Oh my Mew, every fucking day!” Blaine laughed. “We’d get in trouble in class all the time because we were passing notes about it!”

Geoff raised an eyebrow. “Wow, really? I never pictured you as that kind of guy, Jack.”

“Yeah. Not many people did.”

Blaine reached over and roughly rubbed Jack’s head. “Yeah, that’s ‘cause Jack was that goody two-shoes with the good grades and shit. Then I corrupted him.” He laughed and punched his shoulder. “So since we’re both here, why don’t we have a battle? I assume you’re training a lot, right?”

Jack pressed his lips together and rubbed the back of his neck. “Well… not really, actually. I haven’t been doing _any_ training, to be completely honest.”

“What? Fucking Arceus, man, no offense, but you seem like a really shitty Trainer.”

“That’s because I’m not a Trainer, Blaine,” Jack sighed. “I’m still aiming to be a great Pokémon Doctor; I’m just traveling for a while to get experience.”

The blonde Trainer nodded and leaned back. “Oooh, I get it. So does that mean you don’t want to battle?”

“Not really, no.”

Geoff stood up, pulling out a PokeBall. “I’ll battle you! Come on, I’ll take you on!” he exclaimed.

Blaine scoffed and raised an eyebrow in a judgmental way towards the dark haired. “Are you fucking kidding me? No. If I’m battling any of you guys, it’s going to be Jack.”

The oldest glared, but sat back down wordlessly. Ryan gave Blaine a perplexed look.

“Why only Jack? What’s wrong with battling Geoff?” he asked.

“’Cause Jack is my best friend, and I don’t know you guys. It wouldn’t be as fun,” he stated solidly. He then turned back to the other Salubrity Town native. “Come on, man, just one battle. It can be just a one-on-one! I won’t even make fun of you if I kick your ass into the ground!”

The ginger stared at him a moment, pondering the offer. “…Fine.”

Blaine leapt up, cheering; Jack stood and grabbed his arm to calm him down.

“ _Just_ a one-on-one! And don’t use Tinker!”

The blonde frowned, and his shoulders fell. “But Tinker’s my best!”

Jack crossed his arms. “Exactly. I don’t want you killing Sheep or Taylor, understand?”

Blaine rolled his eyes and grabbed Jack’s arm. “Yeah, yeah, whatever. Let’s go already!” He then pulled Jack out of the Pokémon Center at a quick pace. The other Achievement Hunters looked at each other before following.

 

* * *

 

 

As soon as they were situated at either side of their declared battle field, Blaine pulled out a PokeBall. “You send out yours first!”

Jack nodded and threw his. “Sheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep!”

With a flash of light, a Mareep was stood casually in front of the Pokémon Doctor. Ray pulled out his PokeDex and did a quick scan.

_Mareep, the Wool Pokémon. Mareep is not prone to being petted, since its fluffy coat immediately doubles in size due to stored static electricity._

_Owned by: Jack Pattillo_

Gavin raised an eyebrow. “Wait, but Jack pets Sheep all the time,” he mumbled. “How does he not get zapped?”

From the other side of the field, Blaine raised an eyebrow. “Isn’t that the Mareep you took in after its pack abandoned it? I thought the deal with your parents was that you’d let it go as soon as it was healthy…”

“Hey asshole, aren’t you going to send out your Pokémon?” Geoff snapped.

“Geoff…,” Ryan sighed in a warning tone.

Blaine glared at the oldest. “Alright, fine! Fucking impatient much? Machoke, you’re up!”

Ray was busy watching worriedly as Geoff glared at the other Trainer, so Gavin took the PokeDex out of his hands and used it.

_Machoke, the Superpower Pokémon. Machoke’s strength can be out of control, so it wears a belt to help keep it in check._

_Owned by: Blaine Gibson_

“You can have the first move, Jack!”

The ginger nodded and held out his hand. “Use Tackle!”

Sheep rushed forward, slamming into Machoke’s leg; the Fighting Type barely even flinched.

Blaine stifled a laugh. “That’s it? Machoke, Low Kick!”

It pulled back its leg and quickly kicked it into the Mareep’s side, throwing it a few feet before it hit the ground. Slowly, it staggered back to its feet and waited for instruction.

“Thunder Shock!”

Electricity shot out of its body and collided with Machoke, and this time, it seemed to cause some damage.

Jack smiled weakly. “Now, Tackle, again!”

Before Machoke could recover, Sheep launched itself up and into its abdomen, pushing it back a few steps.

“Karate Chop!”

The Superpower Pokémon threw its hand into Sheep’s back, forcing it to slam into the ground.

Jack frowned and watched worriedly. “Sheep, are you alright?”

It weakly stumbled back onto its feet and looked back at its owner, giving a confident nod. He smiled in relief and pointed at Machoke.

“Tackle, one more time!”

“Dodge it, then use Karate Chop!”

Sheep jumped into the air, aiming for its abdomen again, but the Fighting Type quickly side stepped it and hit it right back as if it were a baseball. Jack let out a yelp as he watched his Pokémon tumble across the field.

“Sheep!”

When it didn’t move, he ran onto the field to take a look, and just as suspected, it was unconscious. He sighed and picked it up just as it came to.

“That was a good battle,” he quietly reassured. “You did really well.”

It let out a soft cry, and he put it back into its PokeBall before looking at Blaine. The other returned his own and walked over.

“That was surprisingly quick,” he pointed out. “Are you sure you’ve been training?”

Jack rolled his eyes. “Didn’t we already go over this? No, I _haven’t_ been training. Of _course_ I haven’t been training. I’m studying to be a _Pokémon Doctor_. That doesn’t include battling.”

Blaine crossed his arms. “Well, yeah, but don’t you still want to?”

“No!”

“How can you not want to?! Battling is, like, the greatest thing out there!”

“To you, maybe, but we’re not the same fucking person, Blaine!”

Ryan hurried over and placed a hand on Jack’s shoulder. “Alright, both of you, fucking relax. Jack, shouldn’t we go take Sheep to Nurse Joy?”

The Pokémon Doctor didn’t reply; he simply huffed, pulled out of Ryan’s grip, and stormed back inside. The Breeder gave Blaine a sheepish smile before chasing after him.

Gavin walked over to where the blonde was standing. “Bloody hell, do you know what’s pissing him off?”

Blaine shook his head. “No. How would I? I haven’t talked to him for five months.”

“Didn’t you say you two were best friends?” Michael asked. “Couldn’t that at least give you an idea?”

Blaine frowned and stared at the dirt. “The only reason he ever got pissed before was because of his parents, and I doubt that’d be why he’s mad now…”

The Ranger hummed and looked away. “Maybe he’s just tired. We’ve had a pretty stressful past couple of days.”

Ray bit his lip and looked away; Gavin wrapped an arm around him and smiled. “Not completely your fault, X-Ray. Don’t forget about that thing that happened with Team Freelancer with those two Gents, or the fact that we’ve been traveling non-stop for a few days!”

Blaine raised an eyebrow towards the building in front of them. “Still… Jack’s not usually the type to get pissed off when he’s stressed…”

 

* * *

 

 

As soon as the sliding door shut behind them, Jack let out a frustrated groan. “Of _all_ of the fucking people to show up, it _had_ to be him! For fuck’s sake, Arceus must be trying to kill me!”

Ryan raised an eyebrow as he guided the younger towards the front counter. “I thought you two were friends?”

“We are! He’s just… He’s…” He sighed angrily. “It’s complicated.”

After Jack gave his PokeBall to Nurse Joy, the two walked back to the table they’d been sitting at before Blaine had come. They sat across from each other, and the Doctor let out a long sigh.

“Here’s the thing with him,” he said. “Blaine has always wanted me to go on a journey with him. And I mean always. Literally, the day we met, he said that he was going to get me to go on a journey. But I’ve never wanted to, because when he talked about it, he implied that we were both going to be Trainers. Not that there’s anything wrong with Trainers, I just never wanted to be one.”

Ryan frowned. “Why didn’t you just tell him no?”

“Because it’s _Blaine_ , and he’s my _friend_. I can’t say no to him. That’s why we always got in trouble in class- he’d be passing me notes, I’d try to ignore them, and he’d just send more until I had a huge fucking pile on my desk. He can’t take a hint.” He leaned back and pulled off his glasses long enough to rub a hand over his face.

“Hm… I guess that makes sense,” the Breeder commented. “But, why does that matter now? You’re already on a journey. Why are you so pissed at him so soon? He hasn’t really done anything…”

Jack frowned and looked at the ground, setting his glasses on the table. “I’m just… I’m worried that he’s going to make me leave you guys,” he sighed.

Ryan sat back, eyebrows raising. “Oh.”

“Yeah.”

They fell into a silence for a moment, until Ryan broke it with a quiet, “Well… If you want to go with him, we can handle ourselves. I mean, we love having you around, but if you don’t want to stay…”

“No! No, that’s not what I want to do!” Jack quickly replied, putting his glasses back on. “I _like_ you guys. Really, I do! You guys are the first friends I’ve had aside from Blaine, and to be honest, I kind of like you guys a lot more than I do him. You’re a lot less rough than he is. But if he asks… I don’t know if I’ll be able to say no. Not because I’m eager to leave or anything, but because I don’t want to disappoint him. I _hate_ disappointing him…”

Ryan frowned and reached across to pat his shoulder. “Well, whatever you decide, I think we’ll be okay with it. You don’t have to worry about disappointing us, at least. You’ll be fine.”

Jack was quiet for a moment before he let out a sigh and nodded, giving Ryan a small smile. “That helps,” he said. “Thanks.”

“Not a problem.” The Breeder then stood and gestured to the door. “Now let’s go back outside before Geoff and Blaine murder each other in an act of fury.”

The younger rolled his eyes and followed the other outside.

 

* * *

 

 

Moonlight poured through the window, leaving a near perfect square on the floor next to the bed Jack was laying in. He stuck his hand in, staring at the shadow it left and watching it morph as he moved his fingers. A small smile formed on him lips as he thought back to his childhood, when he and Blaine would make forts and set up their flashlights to recreate scenes from their favorite movies in shadow puppet form.

He let out a sigh, causing Taylor to rise and fall from where it slept on his chest, and dropped his hand onto the carpet. He still had yet to tell Blaine his decision to stay back with the Achievement Hunters. The Trainer had pulled him aside during the afternoon to ask, and he hadn’t exactly been kind about it.

_“Hey, let’s leave.”_

_“What? Where are we going?”_

_“I don’t know. Entity, I guess. I’ve still gotta get the Epsilon Badge.”_

_“…Blaine…”_

_“Come on, go get your bag! If we leave now, we might get about halfway there before nightfall!”_

_“If we leave now, we won’t get to say goodbye to my friends.”_

_“Who cares? They’re not exactly like us, you know. Ryan’s creepy, Ray’s shy as fuck, that Michael looks like he’s gay, Gavin’s a dumbass, and Geoff’s an asshole. You don’t_ really _want to travel with them, do you?”_

Clenching his fists, Jack buried his face into his pillow. He’d managed to make the excuse of not wanting to be rude- one that Blaine easily took up –and bought another night here to wonder how he was going to finally tell him no.

He sighed again. This was going to be rough.

The next thing he heard was the door creaking open. Briefly, he thought that it might be one of the Lads needing something, so he hurried up and put on his glasses, gently pushing Taylor onto the bed. Instead, what he saw was his old friend, peering around the door and giving him a soft smile.

“Hey,” he whispered.

Jack sat up and raised an eyebrow. “What’s up? Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, everything’s fine,” he replied. “I was just wondering if you wanted to go on a walk with me.”

The Pokémon Doctor felt worry course through his system; was Blaine going to take him on a “walk” that would turn out to be their journey back home? Was he going to force him into this?

 _No,_ he thought, _this is Blaine, not an axe murderer. He wouldn’t do that._ Looking over the Trainer, he saw that he was still in his pajamas anyway. It was just going to be a walk.

Silently, he crawled out of bed and slipped his shoes on. “Sure, but let’s make sure we’ll be back before sunrise. I don’t want to have to explain this to them; they’ll probably think we were fucking.”

Blaine snorted, and as soon as Jack had shut the door behind him, the blonde burst into loud laughter. The ginger hushed him quickly.

“Sorry,” the younger laughed, “Just the thought of you and I banging is fucking hilarious.”

Jack rolled his eyes with a smile and pulled him down the hall. “Are we going on a walk or not?”

They stayed silent for a long while after that; it wasn’t until they were a ways into the forest did Blaine start talking again.

“So I’ve been thinking,” he stated.

Jack snorted. “That’s dangerous.”

“I wasn’t done yet, asshole!”

“Please, continue.”

Blaine stared at him for a moment with a smile before doing as told. “As I said, I’ve been thinking. About what we’re going to do tomorrow.”

Any joy that had built up in Jack dissolved in a second. He knew where this was going.

“And I think it’d be smart to leave early,” he continued. “Like, right after breakfast. We might be able to make it to Entity by the next day.”

“Blaine…”

“And that’ll give you enough time to say goodbye to them, since you really want to, so it’s a win for both of us, right?”

Jack stared at him for a minute before running a hand through his hair and sighing. “Blaine, I… I don’t think I want to travel with you.”

Blaine gave him the same blank stare. “What do you mean?”

“I _like_ these guys, Blaine,” he explained. “I can’t just leave them like that.”

“Why not? You left your parents like that. You left _Caiti_ like that.”

Jack glared at him. “That’s different.”

“How is that any different?”

As Jack opened his mouth to reply, a screech was heard in a nearby tree, and they both snapped their heads towards the noise.

“Oh, fucking Arceus!”

“Mew damn!”

A group of four Ariados had gathered in the branches above them, and none of them looked too happy about Jack and Blaine being there. The Pokémon Doctor was pretty much frozen, so Blaine had to grab his hand and drag him out of the way when one of them threw a Poison Sting at them.

“And back to the Pokémon Center we go!” he yelled.

They only got a few more feet away when a String Shot hit the ground in front of them, blocking them from getting back to the path. They turned to go around it, but another one just missed Jack’s foot. He yelped and leaped back, which pulled Blaine back with him. A few more surrounded them until there was no way out; the Ariados began to climb down their webs as the two stood back to back.

“M-Maybe we should have told someone where we were going,” Jack pointed out.

“We did. Nurse Joy saw us leave, right?”

“I meant, like, Geoff or Gavin. At least that would have been a sort of goodbye…”

Blaine rolled his eyes, and his shoulders fell. “Come on, man, why’ve you gotta be so pessimistic?”

Jack glared at him over his shoulder and replied, “I’m just saying. I can’t think of a way out of this. I didn’t bring any of my Pokémon with me, and neither did you!”

“Who said that?” Blaine laughed. He pulled out a PokeBall and tossed it into the air; the Pokémon inside landed on a branch close by. Jack’s face lit up when he saw it.

“Tinker!”

“Hey, Tinker, help your Trainer out here!” Blaine yelled. “Use Vine Whip on us, okay?”

The Ivysaur nodded and shot out a pair of vines that wrapped around the two and pulled them up and out of the web circle. Blaine landed perfectly on the branch, while Jack slipped and ended up dangling. The Trainer quickly grabbed him by the hand and pulled him back up.

“You okay?”

“I’m fine. Thanks.”

Tinker pulled on Blaine’s sweatpants, and they turned to see the Ariados quickly scuttling towards them. He quickly stood up, holding onto a higher branch for support, and held out his hand.

“Razor Leaf!”

The Ivysaur shot the disc-shaped leaves at the Pokémon below them; as soon as the attack hit, one of them shot a Poison Sting right back. It was aiming straight for Jack, so Blaine quickly jumped over to block him. The Pokémon Doctor grabbed onto him when he winced and nearly fell off of the branch.

“Are you okay?!”

Blaine gritted his teeth. “Hit my arm,” he muttered, “But otherwise, I’m fine. Let’s just get out of here.”

Jack nodded and looked down. “Do you think we’re safe…?”

“If we’re not, I’m sure Tinker will keep us safe. Come on, let’s go.”

Carefully, and with Jack keeping hold of Blaine, the three managed to make their way out of the tree and onto the ground. They did a quick sweep of the area around them to make sure the Ariados were actually gone, and the Jack grabbed Blaine’s uninjured arm and dragged him away. Tinker had to run to catch up.

“Jack, dude, relax, we’re fine.”

“I-I know, but I don’t want to run into them again!”

Blaine rolled his eyes and stopped running, yanking his arm out of his grip. “Are you going to be like this all the time?”

Jack slowed to a stop and turned around. “What do you mean?”

“Like this!” he exclaimed, gesturing to the older. “All panicky and shit! You’re having a fucking panic attack over the fact that we got attacked by some Ariados!”

“This is _not_ a panic attack, Blaine.”

“That’s not that point! If we’re going to travel together, you’re going to have to get over this. Just relax, buddy.”

Jack frowned and straightened himself up, feeling confident anger course through his veins. “Then it’s a good thing we’re not going to be traveling together, isn’t it?”

Blaine stopped, arms falling. “…You’re still going on that?”

“Blaine, dude,” Jack sighed, “Of course I am. You know I love you-”

“No homo?”

The older rolled his eyes. “No homo. But I love these guys, too, and you’ve got to understand that, okay? I want to stay with them. In the short time I’ve been traveling with them, I’ve gotten more experience than that entire year I spent working at the office with my dad. I’ve learned things that you aren’t going to be able to teach me. Ray has an anxiety disorder, so I can learn from that. Gavin gets migraines. I’m sure Geoff, Ryan, and Michael have things like that, too- things that _you_ can’t teach me.

“Even if they didn’t have those things, I’d want to stay with them. They’re my friends. I haven’t had anyone to talk to like this since Caiti and I started talking, and the only person I had before her was you. It’s… it’s nice. So, no. I’m not going to travel with you, Blaine. I’m sorry, but you have to accept that.”

The blonde stared at him sullenly for a minute. He slowly looked away and nodded. “Okay. I get it.”

Giving a weak smile, Jack held out a fist. “You’re still my best friend though. You know that much at least, right?”

Blaine gave a small laugh and tapped his own fist against the older’s. “Sure.”

“Great. Now let’s hurry back- that Poison Sting looks like it’s starting to take effect.”

Blaine nodded, Jack picked up Tinker, and they hurried back, cracking jokes and playing with their shadows the entire way.

 

* * *

 

 

When Ryan woke up, he had a moment of panic when he saw that Jack was gone. He sat up quickly, searching for any sign of where he might have gone, before rushing out of the room and towards the lobby.

He was in the middle of asking Nurse Joy if she’d seen the Pokémon Doctor when he caught sight of him.

The ginger was sprawled out in one of the booths, mouth hanging open and glasses on the table. An Ivysaur was sat on his stomach, and in the other seat was Blaine. The Trainer was curled up on his side; Ryan could clearly see a bandage wrapped around his forearm. He raised an eyebrow, curious at what had happened, but otherwise left it be and moved to get breakfast.

Ray stumbled in when the Breeder was sipping on a mug of coffee, rubbing his eyes and looking quite out of it. Ryan frowned when he flopped down at a table and went to sit across from him.

“You’re up early,” he commented.

Ray nodded. “Had a nightmare. Didn’t want to risk going back to sleep.”

Ryan hummed. “Do you want to talk about it?” he asked after a moment.

The Trainer sighed and hesitated. “Uh… It was the Freelancer Battle. Not the one you had, the one where it was just Gavin and I. When the Sableye’s Scratch hit me.”

“You had a nightmare about _that_? Didn’t that happen a couple of months ago?”

“Almost,” he whispered. “I don’t know why I can’t stop freaking out about it. I think it really fucked with me.”

Ryan leaned back in his chair and took a drink. “Maybe you should get some help.”

Ray immediately shook his head vigorously. “Nope! No! I’m fine! I’ll be okay! I don’t need therapy or anything.”

The older held up his free hand. “Alright, okay!” he laughed. “Are you scared of therapy or something?”

The dark haired nodded slowly, swallowing thickly. He opened his mouth to speak, but shut it after a moment of hesitation. Ryan let out a sigh.

“You know, there’s nothing to be scared of,” he softly pointed out. “It’s just therapy. All you do is talk.”

“Yeah, to a stranger,” Ray mumbled. “I’m still not very good with new people. You know that; you remember when we met, and when we met pretty much everyone else.”

The lighter haired frowned and nodded. “Hm… Maybe I can try to help,” he suggested. “I used to go to therapy, and I think I remember some of the stuff she would ask me.”

Ray bit his lip and reached down to play with the hem of his shirt. “I… I don’t want to put you out of your way or anything…”

“You wouldn’t be. Come on, Ray, we’re friends! Of course I want to help you.”

The younger swallowed again. “…Could you? Maybe? Please? If it’s not too much to ask, or whatever…”

Ryan smiled and leaned forward, setting his coffee down gently. “Absolutely I can! Don’t worry about anything. I’ll handle it, okay?”

Ray returned the smile weakly and nodded. “Okay.”

There was a shriek behind them, and the next thing they knew, Gavin was leaping over the table as Michael sprinted around it. The two sitting just stared at each other until they were gone, at which time they let out simultaneous sighs.

Gavin let out another yelp as they ran past where Blaine and Jack were sleeping, which caused them both to jerk awake. As Blaine sat up in a panic, Jack simply ran a hand over his face and let out a deep breath.

“Relax, Blaine, it’s just Gavin and Michael,” he sighed.

The blonde blinked the sleep out of his eyes and looked at the older. “Is this normal?”

“Like you wouldn’t believe.”

Jack finally sat up, shifting Tinker onto his lap, and put his glasses on. The Trainer quietly staggered to his feet and put the Ivysaur back into its PokeBall before holding out a hand. The Pokémon Doctor took it gratefully, and once they were face to face, they stared at each other for a moment.

“We’re probably going to part ways today, aren’t we?” Blaine mumbled.

Jack nodded slowly. “I assume Geoff’ll want to leave pretty soon. Plus, we’re going to Gubbin, not Entity.”

“I wanted to head out early, too. Actually…” He turned and looked at the clock behind the counter. “I’d wanted to be gone by now, to be honest. I should probably go now to catch up.”

The Pokémon Doctor was silent for a moment. “We’ll run into each other again, won’t we?”

Blaine nodded quickly. “I wouldn’t doubt it. I mean, I’ll have to pass through Gubbin eventually, even if I already got that badge. If you’re going through Route 17, that’ll probably buy enough time for us to cross paths again.”

The older smiled softly and gestured to the hallway where their rooms were. “We should probably get dressed, shouldn’t we? I mean, if you’re heading off soon…”

Rolling his eyes, Blaine took hold of his arm and pulled him away. “Let’s hurry. I don’t want to lose any more time.”

 

* * *

 

 

The sun was high in the sky, and the Achievement Hunters were heading down the path at a quick pace. Geoff was in the lead as always, followed by Michael and Gavin, then Jack and Ryan, and Ray trailing behind silently.

Ryan put his hands behind his head and smirked at Jack. “So, you finally figured out how to tell him ‘no’, I assume?”

A blush formed across the Doctor’s face, and he had to look away. “I- yeah. It turned out to be a hell of a lot easier than I thought it would be,” he said.

“How did he take it?”

“I had to fight with him a little bit, to be honest,” he admitted, “But aside from that, he seemed fine with it, I think.”

The Breeder smiled and put his arms down, landing a soft punch on the younger’s shoulder. “See? I told you you’d be fine!”

Jack laughed and nodded. “I never said I doubted you!”

Ryan turned around to look at Ray. “See? Jack trusts me! You can, too!”

The youngest raised an eyebrow. “D-Did I seem like I didn’t?”

The older rolled his eyes and slowed down to walk next to the Trainer; realizing that this conversation wasn’t for him, Jack took the opportunity to hurry up to Geoff. He finally had his chance to talk to him.

“Hey, Geoff, can I talk to you for a minute?”

The older Trainer turned to him and smiled. “Sure thing, buddy. What’s up?”

The Doctor let out a relieved sigh and gripped the straps on his bag. “I think you might need to relax a bit on the traveling.”

Geoff raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”

“Well… You’re really pushing everyone,” he explained. “You might be used to traveling like this, since you’ve been doing it for years, but the rest of us haven’t.”

“Ryan has.”

“Okay, you and Ryan might be used to it, but the rest of us aren’t.” He pointed back towards Ray. “Especially him. That anxiety’s already probably got him tired as fuck, let alone how intense you’re making us go.”

Geoff crossed his arms. “Well, excuse me for wanting to get to Gubbin City.”

“That’s not what I mean, and you know it.”

The older glared at him, but turned away and sighed after a moment. “Yeah, I get it. I’ll try to take it slower, for the sake of the others. But that doesn’t mean I’m going to like it!”

“I never said you had to,” Jack laughed.

They were silent for a while. Geoff eventually turned to him, a curious look on his face.

“So… How are you and that Blaine guy even friends? He seems like kind of an asshole.”

Jack rolled his eyes and muttered, “He’s not an asshole, he’s my best friend” before launching into a childhood story which guided them down the path as the journey continued.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed!!
> 
> (I apologize for making Blaine kind of an asshole >.


	22. Return Home! Find the Professor!!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Achievement Hunters stumble into Dirtbag Town, and Gavin really wants to meet Professor Hullum while Geoff really just wants to get the hell out of there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beacon Region Map: http://sweetiecurfyart.tumblr.com/post/111232399174/here-it-is-a-map-of-the-beacon-region-used
> 
> Art can be found here: sweetiecurfyart.tumblr.com  
> Follow me on Twitter under @Sweetie_Curfy
> 
> Also! New summary!! (I never really liked the old one, so I hope this doesn't throw anyone off too badly ^^;)

Gavin stretched his arms over his head, the imbalance nearly causing him to topple into Michael as they walked down the path. The Gubbin native frowned and looked at the Ranger with a smirk.

“Hey, Mi-cool…”

The auburn haired sighed and stared at the straw haired with dead eyes. “ _What_ , Gavin?”

“What if your legs didn’t know they were legs?”

Michael physically stopped walking to raise an eyebrow. “I… what the fuck are you talking about?”

The Photographer dropped his arms. “No, seriously, think about it! Like, what if they thought they were arms or something?”

The older stared at him for a few beats before shaking his head and continuing to walk. “You’re such a fucking dumbass, Gavin.”

“Wha- Mi-cool!”

“Hurry up, moron, or we’re going to lose the others.”

Gavin pouted, but chased after him regardless. While Michael went to walk next to the Gents and Growlithe, the younger stayed back with Ray. The Trainer was staring at the trees curiously, which caused Gavin to raise an eyebrow.

“You alright there, Ray?” he asked.

Ray snapped out of it and looked at him. “Uh… Yeah. I just… I feel like I recognize this area. Like, a lot. And I’m not really sure why.”

Gavin hummed and looked around. “Well… I think it must be just you,” he mused. “I have no bloody idea where we are.”

“Glad to know we’ll be okay if we ever get separated from the others.”

“Hey, we did alright before we met Ryan and them!”

“You’re forgetting that I almost burned my face off _and_ almost got killed by Team Freelancer,” Ray laughed.

Gavin jabbed his finger into the younger’s shoulder. “And whose fault was that, huh, X-Ray?”

The dark haired opened his mouth to reply, but was interrupted by Geoff’s hollering from the front.

“Hey, Ray, you’ve got a map, don’t you? Could we look at it?”

Cocking his head to the side, Ray hurried up to see what the others were looking at. As soon as he saw what the map was needed for, his shoulders dropped, and he groaned.

“I figured it out, Gavin,” he sighed. Pointing to each side of the fork respectively, he added, “Dirtbag Town’s that way, and over there is Route 17.”

Gavin rushed over and laughed. “Is this where you minged up when you first started?”

“Yeah,” Ray groaned. “Let’s not talk about that. Let’s just go.”

He started to go down the path of Route 17 again, but a hand grabbed his hood and pulled him back, nearly choking him in the process.

“No, wait,” Jack said. “If we’re this close to Dirtbag, we might as well stop by. This is where you’re from, isn’t it, Geoff?”

The oldest gave the youngest Gent a dark glare; Gavin stood up a bit straighter and looked down the path.

“From Dirtbag Town?” he questioned. “I thought Dirtbag Town was really small…”

Michael raised an eyebrow. “What? What the fuck would make you think that?”

“That’s what Ray said.”

The youngest shook his head, rolling his eyes. “No, asshole, I said that I was from Nucom Village and said that it was close to Dirtbag. _You_ were the one that said you had no idea where that is.”

“Yeah, and then you said that not many people do!”

Ray opened his mouth to retort, but was cut off when there was a short _whack_ followed by a yelp from Gavin. The Trainer flinched and turned his focus towards the sound to see the Photographer rubbing his head and Ryan bringing his hand down.

“Alright, shut the fuck up, and let’s go,” he snapped. “I want to see where Geoff grew up. Don’t you guys?”

As he and Jack started down the path, the Lads exchanged looks of confusion. Ray was the first to speak up.

“Have… Have Geoff and I lived near each other for our whole lives and never once seen each other?” he asked.

The older Trainer sighed and shook his head. “No. I haven’t been home since I left.” Dropping his gaze to the ground, he quietly added, “And there’s a reason for that.”

Gavin grabbed his wrist and started to pull him along. “Ah, come on, everyone loves home! There’s no place like it, am I right?”

Michael groaned, holding his shoulder out a bit for Growlithe to hop on. “I can’t fucking believe you just quoted the fucking Wizard of Oz.”

“Wha- what’s wrong with that?!”

The Photographer dropped the Gent’s wrist in favor of using his hands while he talked; Ray shifted on his feet before hurrying to catch up to the oldest. Once he was by his side, he gave him a weak smile.

“Are you excited?” he asked quietly.

Geoff raised an eyebrow at him. “To go home? Arceus, no.”

The youngest frowned and grabbed the hem of his sleeveless sweatshirt. “Why not? I, uh, I mean, if you don’t mind explaining… You don’t- you don’t have to tell me, if you don’t want, I was just…”

“It’s fine,” he interrupted. “Dirtbag just has a lot of things in it that I’m trying to avoid. I’m not looking forward to seeing them.”

Ray was quiet for a beat. “When was the last time you were home?” he questioned.

“Not since I got home from my first journey through Kanto. Like I said before, there’s a reason for that.”

The youngest hummed in understanding. “I’m sorry.”

Geoff snorted, giving him a curious look. “What are you sorry for? It’s not your fault that my family’s awful.”

Ray returned the gesture with a half smile. “I dunno,” he whispered.

“What about you? If the others want to, are you excited to see your home again?”

Ray glanced up at him before biting his lip and looking back to the ground. “N-not really,” he admitted. “I’m really worried that if I go home, I’ll be too afraid to leave again… Not to mention Nucom already gives me a lot of anxiety to begin with. I don’t want to have an anxiety or panic attack if I can avoid it.”

Geoff nodded in understanding and gently bumped his arm against Ray’s. When the youngest looked at him, he gave him a reassuring smile. “Hey, I’ll talk them out of going there, if you want.”

The younger Trainer gave a smile- a real one. “C-Could you? Would that be okay?”

“Abso-fucking-lutely, dude. I don’t want you having anxiety attacks any more than you do. It won’t be a problem.”

Ray opened his mouth to reply, but was cut off when Michael yelled back at them.

“Hey assholes, are you coming today, or what?” he hollered. “We only have a few hours, you know!”

Geoff growled quietly. “Fucking impatient assholes…,” he grumbled. Ray laughed nervously before picking his pace up to a jog and hurrying up to the others. Rolling his eyes, Geoff reluctantly did the same.

 

* * *

 

 

As soon as the town came into sight, Gavin raised an eyebrow at Michael. “Didn’t _you_ say that Dirtbag was a big town?”

“What? I just said that it wasn’t small, you moron. I didn’t say anything about it being big.”

The Photographer crossed his arms. “You’ve never even been here, have you?”

Ignoring the argument, Ryan looked at Geoff and pointed at a large building near the middle of town. “Isn’t that Professor Hullum’s lab?”

Geoff let his shoulders sag. “I don’t fucking know, dude. I haven’t been here in for-fucking-ever. How the fuck should I know?”

“Someone’s been chugging the vinegar,” Gavin chimed in. A glare from Geoff shut him up quickly.

Ray tapped Ryan on the shoulder and nodded. “Yeah, that’s the lab,” he informed. “I was only here a couple of months ago, remember?”

“Oh, that’s right!” the Breeder exclaimed. “You would probably know more than Geoff then, wouldn’t you?”

The youngest swallowed and cocked his head to the side, looking up at the clouds. “Well… I wouldn’t say that…”

“Shut the fuck up, idiot,” Geoff sighed. “You know it’s probably true.”

Ray fell silent, having no argument against it; Geoff rolled his eyes and turned to walk back.

“Welp, you guys have seen it, now let’s go.”

Jack grabbed the older’s scarf before he could get very far. “I wouldn’t call that ‘seeing’,” he pointed out. “Can’t we at least see the lab?”

As soon as the ginger let go, Geoff readjusted his scarf and glared at him. “Fine. Whatever. I don’t give a shit. If you wanna go see that shit hole, be my fucking guest. But I’m staying right here.”

Gavin frowned. “Why are you so against going to Dirtbag Town? What’s wrong with it?”

“I don’t want to fucking talk about it, okay, asshole?”

Michael rolled his eyes and grabbed Ray and Gavin by their arms. “You’re such a fucking child, Geoff. Come on, if he’s not going to come, then that’s his own loss. I want to see what this town has.”

Ray cast one last sympathetic look at Geoff as he was dragged off; the other Gents soon followed the Lads. Geoff glared at them before turning his back to them and crossing his arms. The youngest bit his lip and tried to pull his arm away, but Michael gripped it tighter.

“Nope. You’re not going back. He’ll follow us eventually.”

“Mi-cool, he’s not a damn dog,” Gavin laughed. “He’s probably going to stay there until we come back if he doesn’t leave without us.”

“Geoff wouldn’t do that,” Ryan pointed out. “He likes us too much.”

The others launched into a conversation, but Ray stayed out of it to look back one more time. He watched the older Trainer sigh and sit on the ground; the youngest felt guilt course through his entire body before turning away. Maybe he could escape later and sit with him.

 

* * *

 

 

Michael pushed the door open slowly, poking his head in. Growlithe stepped in and sniffed the floor as the Ranger called a timid, “Hello? Anyone here?”

“In the back! Come on in!”

Gavin gasped quietly and grinned at Michael. “Oh my Mew, is this actually happening? Are we actually going to meet Professor Hullum?”

Ray raised an eyebrow, choosing to stay quiet and not pop Gavin’s bubble. That voice hadn’t sounded like Professor Hullum’s at all…

Ryan pushed the Lads through the doorway, causing them to fall into a pile on the ground. “Well, are we going to see him or not? Let’s fucking go already!”

Gavin scrambled up and ran forwards, rushing to get to the back. “Right!”

The two Gents stepped over the remaining Lads as they slowly got back up. Once Gavin rounded the corner, Ray bit his lip and looked at the Ranger.

“I don’t think it’s Professor Hullum back there,” he whispered.

Michael raised an eyebrow. “What? Don’t be stupid, man. Come on, let’s just catch up.”

Before Ray could say anything else, the rest of the group had rounded the corner. He frowned, looking between the door and the hall, trying to decide where to go. With a sigh, and knowing that the rest wouldn’t know their way around town without him, he hurried up and ran towards the corner.

He rushed into the room, nearly slamming into Jack in the process. The ginger laughed and stepped out of the way to show one of the Professor’s assistants talking to Michael and a disappointed Gavin.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “You might be able to catch him if you look for him, though. He’s probably on Route 20, which is just outside of town.”

Ryan nodded. “I think we’ll do that,” he stated. “Thanks!”

Grabbing Gavin by the arm, Michael began to pull him out of the lab. “Come on, idiot. Let’s get out of here before you fuck something up.”

“Mi-cool!”

As the others filed out, Ray made eye contact with the assistant. The older man stared at him for a moment before it clicked into place, and he smiled.

“Oh, Ray!” he exclaimed. “I hardly recognized you!”

The Trainer returned the gesture timidly. “Hi, Mr. Haddock.”

“Ray, I’ve been telling you for years, call me Gray. How’s your journey been so far? Your mother was telling me how excited you were to go.”

“It’s going okay. I’ve already got a badge,” he proudly added.

Gray’s eyebrows rose. “Wow, really? I’m impressed! Do you think you’ll be able to take on the entire league?”

Ray shrugged. “I don’t know. I _want_ to, but I don’t know if I’ll be able to make it that far, to be honest.”

“I’m sure you can,” the older pointed out. “Just think of it as getting one badge at a time.”

The younger hummed and looked to the floor, gripping the strap of his backpack. He was about to say that he needed to go, but Gray opened his mouth before he could do so.

“I see you’ve gotten yourself some friends, too,” he said, “Friends that aren’t me or your other neighbors. I’m sure your mother will be glad to hear that.”

The Trainer beamed at the thought. “Yeah! I’m actually traveling with five, but Geoff didn’t want to come here, so he stayed back. They’re really great though, and I’m having a lot of fun!”

Gray smiled at him and reached over to ruffle his hair. “That’s great, kid,” he laughed. “You should probably go catch up with them, though. I don’t think you want to lose them, do you?”

Shaking his head, Ray turned on his heel and started to race towards the door. “No, absolutely not! Thanks, Mr. Ha- er, Gray!”

“Anytime! Be sure to call home sometimes; your mom worries about you!”

“I will!”

With that, Ray was out the door and running towards the four men that were further down the path than he’d expected them to be. Once he caught up, he caught his breath like it was nothing and fell into step easily. He watched as Gavin vibrated with excitement, as Michael rolled his eyes at him; watched Jack look around at all of the houses they were passing, and Ryan smile fondly at the group. He turned and saw Geoff leaning against a tree on Rt. 17, and it was in that moment that Ray realized how nice it was to have… You know, actual friends.

 

* * *

 

 

As it turned out, to the surprise of no one, Gavin had an extremely short attention span.

Very quickly after getting onto Route 20, the Photographer lived up to his occupation and began snapping photos of everything in sight- blooming flowers, water dripping off of leaves, Pokémon tucked up into their nests… Whatever it was, it was practically guaranteed that Gavin was taking a picture of it.

Ryan sighed as the straw haired scurried off all of a sudden. “Come on, Gavin, what the fuck could you have possibly found here?”

The younger was staring at a patch of the grass beneath their feet. “There’s something here,” he mumbled as Growlithe sprinted over to sniff it. “Something, like, that’s not natural. Someone must have been here!”

“It’s a fucking path, genius,” Michael pointed out. “Of course people have been here.”

“Oh,” Gavin laughed. “Right.”

Ray tilted his head to the side a bit and walked over to see what Gavin was talking about. “Oh, I know this!” he suddenly exclaimed. “This is where my cousin and I buried a time capsule when we were younger!”

“What? X-Ray, do your relatives live around here?!”

The youngest pointed up the path. “Nucom Village is just up there,” he explained. “I know a lot about the path. I can’t believe I completely forgot about that!”

“Well… Are you going to dig it up?” Michael asked.

Ray shook his head. “No, we did that a couple of years ago. We were fucking idiots, too, because we made it a shoe box, so when we dug it up it was rotting and there were worms all through it, and we’d put fruit and berries in it so it smelled horrible, and-”

Gavin turned away, gagging and waving his hand at the youngest. “Stop, stop!”

He bit his tongue to keep from grinning. “Sorry, Vav.”

“No, no, keep going!” Michael laughed. “What else was in there?”

Ray hummed, trying to bring back his old memories. “Uh… A letter that we couldn’t read because it had gotten wet, a picture that looked fucking demonic, a spoon- fuck if I can remember why,- a couple of those Hoenn Ranger action figures that were in okay condition… I think we had some superhero trading cards, but they were ruined, too.”

The Photographer snapped his attention over. “Trading cards? Like what?!”

“You think I remember? We buried it when we were, like, five!”

“But you liked super heroes when you were younger,” he stated.

Ray snorted. “Are you kidding? I was obsessed with them back then. I still like super heroes _now_.”

Before Gavin could reply, Jack groaned.

“Come on, can’t you guys continue your nerd talk elsewhere? Gavin, I thought you wanted to meet Professor Hullum.”

The Photographer perked up, and after saying a quick “We’ll talk about this later” to Ray, he turned and scurried down the path, Growlithe quick to follow. The others rolled their eyes and followed at a much steadier pace.

 

* * *

 

 

Geoff wasn’t quite sure how long he’d been sitting under that tree, but as soon as he heard footsteps, he scrambled to climb up to a high branch. He held his breath, praying that whoever it was hadn’t seen him; he wrapped his fingers around his scarf tightly as he waited.

He didn’t want to talk about Empoleon. Not to the people here, at least. They wouldn’t get it.

“Geoff? I saw you, you dumbass. Where the fuck did you go?”

The Trainer’s heart stopped, and he quickly looked down.

“Burnie?!”

The older’s head turned towards the voice, and he snorted. “What the fuck are you doing up there?” he laughed.

Geoff began to slowly descend. “I thought you were someone else!”

“Who did you think I was?”

“I don’t fucking know. Someone that was going to want to talk to me about Empoleon.”

At that moment, his feet touched the ground; when he looked up, he saw Burnie giving a slightly disappointed look. He rolled his eyes and sighed.

“Don’t you dare start.”

“Geoff…”

“Nope! I don’t want to hear it!”

Burnie crossed his arms. “You’re such a fucking baby. You _know_ that you need to talk about it sometime. The fact that you’re reacting like this proves that you still need help.”

Geoff just sighed and looked away. “Look, can’t we just… Can’t we just not talk about it? Not today.”

He sat on the ground and swallowed thickly, frustration and sadness and worry mixing inside him to create a lump in his throat. The next thing he heard, Burnie let out a deep breath and sat next to the younger.

“Yeah. Yeah, that’s fine. Just… Whenever you _do_ want to talk-”

“I know, I know. Call you up right away, because even if you’re in the middle of a battle, you’ll drop everything to listen,” Geoff recited.

Burnie chuckled. “Have I really said it that many times?”

“It’s been, like, fucking however many years since you started. I think I have a good enough memory to retain that.”

The older smiled and shook his head. “So… what are you up to now? What’s bringing you back here?”

Burnie watched as Geoff’s face lit up a bit. The younger launched into a long tangent about what had happened in the past few weeks, how he’d met some people that were “great as dicks”, how he and one of them had gotten a badge so far, what adventures they’d been on so far, and basically overall just how great of a time he was having on this journey.

“It’s like… I haven’t had this much fun since you and I went through Kanto together,” he stated. “It’s weird. But I like it. Except for Gavin and Michael fighting _all the fucking time_. Like, a couple of days ago, Gavin told Michael that…”

He went into another story, one that Burnie figured was going to take a while to tell. He didn’t mind though; seeing his friend this happy made it worth it.

 

* * *

 

 

Ryan sighed as he looked down the path. “Where the fuck did Gavin go?”

The others turned to look around, but none of them caught sight of the Gubbin City native. Jack rubbed the back of his neck in worry.

“Well… I hope he didn’t get himself into trouble.”

A scream echoed through the forest; Michael put his face in his hand.

“You had to open your fucking mouth, Jack,” he sighed.

The next thing they knew, Gavin was racing towards them, a pack of Zigzagoon and Linoone chasing after him. The Photographer had Growlithe in his arms, but it was turned around and barking at the Pokémon behind them. He was struggling to keep a grip on it, which caused him to trip and slam into Michael.

“You fucking _moron_ ,” he snapped, ripping Growlithe out of his arms and grabbing his wrist before taking off, the others close behind. “What the hell did you do?!”

“I stepped on one of their tails, and then I tried to fix it…!”

“What is there to fix?!” Jack exclaimed. “You stepped on it! You didn’t fucking break the damn thing, did you?!”

“I don’t think so!”

Letting out a low growl, Michael turned to look at an upcoming tree. “Get up there! The Linoone won’t be able to turn fast enough, and the Zigzagoon are too slow!”

“Aw, Mi-cool, what if they heard you?”

“Are you _fucking seriously_ worried about the feelings of the Pokémon trying to fucking _kill you_?!” Michael screamed.

“Seriously, Gavin?!” Ray yelled.

“Well, I don’t want to make them any more upset than they already bloody are!”

Michael ripped the Gubbin native forward and shoved him at the tree. “Just fucking climb, asshole.”

Within seconds, the group was safely in the tree; Michael was strattled over a branch with Growlithe in one arm and holding himself up with the other. Gavin was folded over another that was higher up, and Ray was standing below him, clutching the trunk as if it were his only hope. Ryan had a hold of Jack’s arms, who was dangling on one of the lower most branches.

The pack stayed below them for a few minutes, loudly chattering below them. The Breeder helped the ginger up the rest of the way before looking up at Gavin.

“How the fuck do you manage to do this every fucking time we leave you alone?” he questioned.

The younger glared. “Hey, at least this one was an accident!”

“And the others weren’t?!”

Ray pointed at the ground. “Guys, I think they’re going away,” he showed.

Sure enough, the Zigzagoon and Linoon were slowly stalking off back in the direction they came. They kept looking back to make sure the Achievement Hunters were staying, but eventually they disappeared into the bushes. Ray relaxed and climbed down to the ground as soon as they were out of sight.

“I think they’ll stay away, now,” he informed. “They don’t like to stay away from their territory for too long. There are some Pachirisu that like to try and take over a lot. As long as we don’t bother them any more, I think they’ll leave us alone.”

The others made their way down as Gavin sighed in relief.

“Thank Mew…”

His body relaxed, which unfortunately made him begin to slip. Yelping, he flailed his arms to try to reach another branch, but he missed each time. Michael set down Growlithe and held out his arms just as Gavin fell, and he ended up holding the straw haired bridal-style.

The auburn haired glared at him, not completely angry with him anymore. “Seriously? We need to keep a fucking record of how many times I save your ass in one day.”

“Aw, Mi-cool!”

He rolled his eyes and swiftly set Gavin on his feet. “Shut the fuck up, idiot.”

Jack turned his attention to the sky. “Maybe we should go back for Geoff,” he reasoned. “It’s starting to get late, and I think he wanted to get going by tonight.”

“But we never found Professor Hullum,” Ray pointed out, frown etched on his face.

“Well… We _could_ keep looking, and then just spend the night at Ray’s house,” Ryan reasoned. “You know, if your family wouldn’t mind.”

A small gasp filled Ray’s lungs, and he quickly started back towards Dirtbag Town. “No, you’re right; I don’t want to leave Geoff. Let’s go.”

The others shared a questioning look before following the youngest.

 

* * *

 

 

“Yeah, so this fucking dumbass starts out the battle with a fucking Electric Type,” Burnie laughed. “I was like, ‘how the fuck do you think this is going to work?’ Turns out the dumbass never knew that Electric Types have no effect on Ground Types!”

Geoff stared at him. “Are you fucking serious?”

“Yeah! I’m dead serious!”

“How the hell did he get in to battle you guys?!”

“Fuck if I know, dude!” the older scoffed. “It’s a miracle that he even made it past Joel, let alone Babs and Gus. Guy must’ve had a Meowth charm on him or something.”

The younger hummed and lay back, propping his arms behind his head to stare at the sky. “So you kicked his ass, right?”

“Oh, yeah,” Burnie replied, copying Geoff’s actions. “There wasn’t even a chance that this guy was getting to the boss.”

“Speaking of…”

“I’m still not telling you.”

Geoff sighed. “Dammit.”

“You’ve gotta beat us first, Geoff. You know that.”

There were a few minutes of silence then; the two stared at the clouds as they passed overhead. For a moment, Geoff almost thought he was back in Kanto, back when it was always just him and Burnie, and before…

He frowned, blocking the thought out of his mind. The younger let out a sigh and shut his eyes, letting a memory run behind his eyelids as he tried to forget the now.

_“You little shit!”_

_Laughing hysterically, Geoff raced away from the furious, soaked Burnie. His Prinplup was hot on his heels, flapping its wings to gain speed. The older Trainer was chasing after him as quickly as he could._

_“You fucking come back here!”_

_“Fucking make me, asshole!”_

_“Don’t forget that I still have my fucking Tangela! I’ll Vine Whip your ass to me!”_

_Geoff was about to respond with a flirty reply, but before he could even open his mouth, his foot caught on a root and he was sent tumbling to the ground. As he made impact, his elbow hit against a rock embedded into the path, and he cried out in pain. He heard a gasp, and the next thing he knew, Burnie was kneeling next to him._

_“Holy shit, are you okay?” he asked frantically. “What happened?”_

_The older tried to help the younger sit up, but he accidentally touched his elbow. Geoff yelped and ripped away from any of Burnie’s touches._

_“I’m fucking fine!” he snapped. “Fucking leave me alone!”_

_He was about to get up to storm off, but Burnie grabbed his shoulder and held him down._

_“Let me see your elbow,” he said sternly, pulling his bag off._

_Geoff glared at him. “Fuck that! Let me go!”_

_“Geoff.”_

_The younger stared at him with the darkest look he could muster, but held out his arm regardlessly. Silently, Burnie took hold of it and poked and prodded at it. Geoff kept yelling at him to cut it out, but the older ignored it until he was finished._

_Quietly, he let the arm fall. “You’re fine, you big baby,” he sighed, a relieved look on his face._

_“See? I fucking told you!” he snapped._

_“I wasn’t done, dipshit,” Burnie added. “I think you should put some ice on it, just in case.”_

_Prinplup got ready for use, but Geoff shooed it away._

_“I’m fine.”_

_“Geoff-”_

_“I said I’m fucking fine! Arceus…”_

_Burnie glared at him for a moment before suddenly standing up and beginning to yell._

_“Fine! Fucking act like a child, for Mew’s sake! It’s not like I want you to be healthy or anything! It’s not like I get fucking scared as shit when you get hurt! Go ahead and fucking ruin your body for the rest of your life; see if I fucking care!”_

_Geoff stared at him with wide eyes; even though they’d been traveling together for almost six months, and that they’d grown up together, he’d never heard Burnie yelling at_ him _. He wasn’t quite sure how to react._

_He opened his mouth to say something back, but the older waved him off and looked away._

_“For fuck’s sake, Geoff, you’re still a kid, man. You’re practically my little brother. Can’t you just fucking listen to me for once? I just want you to be okay.”_

_Geoff narrowed his eyes at him; Burnie sighed when he saw._

_“You still don’t believe me, do you?”_

_The younger turned away. Shaking his head, the older crouched and put a hand on his upper arm to get his attention._

_“Look… Just because they left, doesn’t mean that I’m going to,” he said quietly. “You mean more to me than you must have to them. Why else would I have asked you to come with me?”_

_“Because you felt bad for me.”_

_“No, because I fucking like you, and because you’re one of my best fucking friends.”_

_Geoff stayed stubbornly silent, but Burnie could see that his lip was just slightly trembling. He let out a sigh and reached into his backpack, pulling out a small plastic bag and holding it out towards Prinplup. The Water Type knew what to do, and it quickly used Ice Beam into it. The younger flinched once it was pressed onto the injured area, but otherwise stayed silent. The older let out a long breath._

_“You’re alright, Geoff,” he whispered. “You’re fine.”_

“I miss this,” Geoff suddenly said, opening his eyes.

Burnie turned his head to look at him. “What, Dirtbag Town?”

“No. Mew, no. I fucking hate this place,” he pointed out. “I meant traveling together, just you and me. It was easier.”

The older hummed. “You know I’d come with you again if I could.”

Geoff sighed. “I know, I know. But now we’ve got responsibilities and shit, and we can’t just abandon them like they’re nothing.” He sat up, shaking his head.

Burnie copied his actions with a laugh. “You mean _I_ have responsibilities. What do you have that you can’t just up and leave?”

Looking down into Dirtbag Town, the younger caught sight of the rest of the Achievement Hunters. Ray was leading the group, an anxious look on his face, while the two Gents were talking quietly and the other Lads roughly shoved each other around. He saw Michael shove Gavin a bit too hard and slam him into the younger Trainer, which knocked him to the ground next to Growlithe. Ray quickly sat up on his knees and yelled something at them, to which they began to laugh at as they walked past. Ryan helped the youngest up, and they trailed after the others.

“I’ve got them,” he mumbled.

Burnie looked down and hummed in understanding. They sat in silence for a while, just watching the town as it started to get ready for the evening.

Eventually, the older stood and brushed the dirt off of his clothes. “Well, I gotta get going,” he informed. “Gus said he would meet me at Route 19, and I don’t want to keep him waiting.”

Geoff laughed quietly and got up. “Tell him I said hi, and to go fuck himself.”

“Will do,” Burnie replied. “And don’t forget that if-”

“Okay, okay, I’ll fucking call you.” He gently pushed Burnie’s shoulder. “Now get the fuck out of here, asshole.”

Burnie laughed and started down the path. “See you around, cockbite.”

“Yeah, whatever, dickhead.”

Geoff kept his eyes on the older until he disappeared around the corner of the path; as soon as he was gone, he heard footsteps racing up behind him. He turned just in time to be slammed into before turning into a human shield.

“Geoff, help! Keep Mi-cool from killing me, please!”

“Come here, you fuck!”

Michael quickly came into view, but Ray was right on his tail, and the youngest threw his arms around the Ranger and held him back.

“I’ve got him, Gavin! Fucking run!” he laughed.

The Photographer let out one of his Gavin-noises and let go of the older Trainer, running down the path and turning left at the fork of the road. The other two Lads and Growlithe were quick to race after him, leaving Geoff to stand and stare curiously.

Jack and Ryan walked up behind Geoff, rolling their eyes in sync. “They’ve been like this all afternoon,” the Breeder sighed.

“Ryan, when _aren’t_ they like this?”

He paused. “You raise a valid point.”

The Pokémon Doctor pushed the older two forward. “Come on, we’d better hurry. Who knows what they’ll do in the time that the responsible ones are gone?”

Ryan groaned. “Oh, Mew, I hope Gavin doesn’t piss off another group of wild Pokémon.”

“’Another’? What the fuck do you mean, ‘another’?”

The Breeder launched into the story of the day as the Gents moved, hoping to catch up to the Lads before the day ended and the journey continued.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the read! Hope you enjoyed!!
> 
> [Comfort Geoff Button]  
> [Comfort Ray Button]  
> [Comfort Gavin Button] (Since he didn't get the chance to meet Prof. Hullum)
> 
> (Also please remind me to never use the less-than symbol unless I'm making a heart because the majority of the last chapter's note was lost because I used it and I guess that signals something in the coding to just cut everything off there ^^;)


	23. Double Battle! Meet Matt and Jeremy!!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After quite literally running into a pair of Trainers, Ray and Geoff are challenged to their first Double Battle in the Beacon Region.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey check it out, the last chapter I ever post as a minor (I turn 18 tomorrow o_o)
> 
> Beacon Region Map: http://sweetiecurfyart.tumblr.com/post/111232399174/here-it-is-a-map-of-the-beacon-region-used
> 
> Art can be found here: sweetiecurfyart.tumblr.com  
> Follow me on Twitter under @Sweetie_Curfy
> 
> TW's this chapter: anxiety attack, blood

It was late in the morning, but the group had gotten decently far already that day. In a few hours, they had managed to walk at about twice the speed Ray had when he’d first started; since it had been a couple of days since they were in Dirtbag Town, this meant that they had already passed where he and Gavin had met, and where they’d first ran into Ryan. Now, they were getting close to where Route 17 broke off into Route 16, and this progress made everyone content enough to let Gavin take his pictures without complaints.

Gavin leapt down from the tree with a grin. “Look at this!” he exclaimed. “Look at how great this picture is!”

Ray timidly pulled the camera out of his hand and looked at the photo; the morning mist was just clearing up, and the light hitting it made the treetops have a sort of fantasy aesthetic to it. Since Gavin had climbed up to the top of the tree, there were trees until they broke the horizon. He gave Gavin a small smile and handed it back.

“S’really good,” he mumbled.

The older gave him a sympathetic frown. “Is your anxiety acting up?” he asked, lowly enough that the others wouldn’t hear.

Ray hesitated, but ended up nodding anyway. “It’s not bad,” he quickly added. “I’m just… Kind of on the edge, I guess.”

Gavin hummed and shoved his shoulder as gently as he could. “Don’t push yourself then, X-Ray! We can’t have you having another anxiety attack right here!”

Ray cracked a smile, snorting a bit as he started to walk with the others. “Thanks, Vav. Never heard that one before.”

“Really?”

“Of course not, you idiot!” he laughed.

From where he was stood next to Ray, Geoff rolled his eyes. “You know, we need to get you a fucking sarcasm sign,” he suggested. “Maybe you wouldn’t be so fucking dumb.”

Before Gavin could say anything else, an unfamiliar voice cut through the group, causing them to turn. A couple of guys around the same age as Gavin and Ray were racing towards them at their top speed; the taller one with glasses yelled out at them.

“Fucking get out of here! There’s a fucking Ursaring behind us!”

The two turned to look behind them, where, sure enough, the Hibernator Pokémon was coming after them. While they were doing that, they slammed full force into Geoff and Ray- the taller one in to the younger, and the shorter one in to the oldest –and knocked them into the ground.

Gavin paused, turning to look at the trees. “Huh, I thought this place looked familiar,” he mused. “Mi-cool, is this where we all met for the first time?”

The Ranger ignored him, jumping out in front of the four on the ground and holding out his hand. “Growlithe, Flamethrower!”

The Fire Type quickly spat out the string of flames, and it hit the Ursaring hard in the abdomen. Instead of running away like it had before, it lifted its arm, a soft glow coming from off of it.

“Get out of the way!”

Growlithe jumped away just as the larger Pokémon swung its arm down. Realizing he was in the way, Michael sidestepped it. The shorter guy shoved Geoff away, while Gavin grabbed Ray by the hood and Ryan hooked his arms under the taller’s and yanked him back. The attack hit the ground with a _crack_.

The Ranger quickly regained his balance and yelled, “Use Bite!”

Growlithe jumped up and sunk its teeth into Ursaring’s arm; it flung the limb around until the smaller went flying off, slamming into a tree. Michael watched nervously until he noticed that Ursaring was running off. As soon as it was gone, the auburn haired rushed over to pick up his Pokémon.

“Holy shit, we’re so fucking sorry,” the shorter guy said to them. “We had no idea that that thing was even there, let alone that it would attack us!”

Gavin shrugged. “Ah, don’t worry about it,” he said, letting Ray’s hood go. “It’s not really unusual for Pokémon around here to do that.”

Ryan set the taller guy down and crossed his arms. “It’s not really unusual for you to fuck something up to set the Pokémon on us,” he pointed out. “Wasn’t that the same Ursaring that you pissed off when we met Michael?”

A large blush formed over the Photographer’s face, and he rubbed the back of his neck, laughing nervously. “Well… You know…”

Geoff raised an eyebrow at the strangers. “Don’t you two have any Pokémon?” he asked. “Why didn’t you attack it?”

The taller guy stood up. “Well, I _would_ have done that, but Jeremy had to knock out my Arcanine this morning…”

“Hey, I beat you in that battle fair and square, Matt!” he snapped. “Don’t go blaming this on me!”

“Well, since you’re fucking bragging about it so much, why didn’t you try to stop it?!”

“You’re one to talk about bragging! It’s _literally_ your name!”

“Are you seriously going to fucking go there? Really?”

Ryan pushed the two apart. “Alright, alright; it’s done and over with. Calm down.”

Taking a deep breath, the shorter one turned to Michael, who was coming back over with Growlithe in his arms, half conscious. “Thanks for saving us, by the way. I don’t think we could have outrun that.”

“Again, a problem that could have been solved if you hadn’t have knocked out Arcanine…”

Ignoring the taller’s comment, Michael gave the shorter a nod. “Yeah, no problem. There’s really nothing to thank me for, though. I’m just doing my job.”

As the Ranger turned to the Pokémon Doctor to ask for a Potion, Gavin hopped over to the strangers and held out his hand. “It’s nice to meet you guys!” he exclaimed. “I’m Gavin.”

The shorter one laughed judgmentally and shook it. “I’m Jeremy, and that idiot is Matt.”

“Well, alright, that’s kinda rude, but whatever.”

The Breeder rolled his eyes. “Mew, you two are spitting images of Gavin and Michael…,” he sighed. “I’m Ryan, by the way.”

“I’m Jack!”

“Michael.”

“Geoff.”

Gavin peered over to the younger Trainer, who had his arms wrapped around himself and was looking fearfully between the Photographer and Matt and Jeremy. His mouth opened and shut a few times, but no sound came out. The older gave him a reassuring smile before turning back to the new two, pointing over to him.

“That’s Ray,” he informed quickly. “He’s a little… nervous right now. But I think he likes you…?”

The youngest bit his lip and gave him a weak smile before nodding shakily. Gavin returned the gesture with more confidence.

“Yeah, he’s cool with you guys. I wouldn’t worry about it.”

The two looked at him curiously, but turned away after a moment. “Uh… Alright,” Matt mumbled. “So, are you guys all Trainers, or…?”

“Nah, just Ray and Geoff are,” Ryan stated. “The rest of us are a lot of different things. We’ve got a Breeder, a Pokémon Doctor, a Pokémon Ranger, and a Photographer.”

Jeremy hummed shortly and turned to Geoff. “Would you want to have a battle with us?”

“What, two on one? Fuck no, I’m not doing that!”

Matt punched Jeremy on the shoulder. “Yeah, come on, dude, what the hell were you thinking?”

“I was thinking that the other Trainer would be a part of it, smartass,” he pointed out.

“His name’s Ray,” Gavin quickly said.

The group turned to the youngest, who was staring at the ground. When he looked up timidly, he bit his lip and swallowed. He caught a wary look on Geoff’s face, and knew that he was trying to silently remind him to not push himself, but… They were all just _staring_ at him, just waiting for him to say yes. He didn’t want to piss anyone off.

He swallowed thickly. “I-I can battle,” he whispered. “It wouldn’t be a problem.”

Matt and Jeremy both grinned and high-fived; the other five kept their eyes on the youngest.

“Are you sure you’re up for it?” Ryan asked. “You shouldn’t push it if you aren’t…”

“I’m sure,” he mumbled. “I won’t be pushing anything. I’ll be okay.”

He ignored the fact that even making eye contact was a chore right now; he was willing to do anything to get the stares off of him, even if it meant giving himself an anxiety attack later.

Michael shrugged, setting his now-healed Growlithe on the ground. “If I remember correctly, there should be a clearing around here somewhere,” he stated. “We could go there for the battle.”

Three of the four Trainers exchanged looks before nodding. “Yeah, sure,” Matt said. “There’ll be more room there, right?”

“Absolutely,” Ryan said. “Michael, I think I know what you’re talking about. I think I remember where it is. I can take us there.”

The others nodded and followed the Breeder as he headed into the forest.

 

* * *

 

 

Once they found the clearing, they immediately went to their battle positions- Matt and Jeremy on one side, while Geoff and Ray were on the other. Three out of the four were glaring confidently, but one stared nervously at the ground, running his fingers slowly over his PokeBalls. The four not-Trainers stood off to the side, close enough that they could see, but far enough off that they wouldn’t get hit.

“You guys can send your Pokémon out first,” Geoff yelled over.

The two nodded and each pulled out a PokeBall before throwing them forward, each with the arm closest to the other.

“Jigglypuff, you’re up!” Matt called.

“Graveler, go!” Jeremy hollered.

The two Pokémon were on the field in seconds, giving the opposing two fierceful looks. Geoff nodded and looked at Ray.

“You go after Jigglypuff,” he ordered. “I’ll take down Graveler.”

The youngest gave a hesitant nod before pulling out his PokeBall.

“Cyndaquil, I need you!” he exclaimed, throwing it towards the field. He then quickly added, “I-I mean, if you’re willing to battle…”

Geoff rolled his eyes, not paying any attention to the younger’s choice. “Fucking Arceus, kid, you really need to take control of your Pokémon,” he grumbled. “Stantler, do your best!”

Cyndaquil flinched and curled in on itself a bit when it saw that Geoff’s Pokémon was over twice the size of itself; the older Trainer groaned as he realized the younger's choice and threw his face into his hand.

“Fucking seriously?!” he snapped, voice cracking. “You sent out Cyndaquil?! That thing’s fucking scared as dicks of everything!”

Ray swallowed thickly, biting his lip. “I-I-”

“Hey, man, no need to flip out like that over his Pokémon,” Matt yelled over, raising an eyebrow at the oldest.

“You know, if you really want to switch out, we won’t be pissed,” Jeremy added. “It’s not like it’s the fucking league or anything.”

Geoff gave the smaller a dark look, but between the new people and the pressure of doing well, Ray panicked and shook his head.

“N-No, it’s okay,” he replied quietly. “We’ve got this…”

The oldest sighed and ran a hand over his face. “You know what? Fine. Let’s just get this shit started.” He held out a hand. “Stantler, use Stomp on Graveler!”

The Big Horn Pokémon quickly began to gallop towards the Rock Type, which stayed in place.

“Dodge it, then use Rock Throw on Cyndaquil!”

Graveler jumped out of the way just before Stantler hit it, and as soon as it was in the air, it threw rocks that came seemingly out of nowhere. The Fire Type screeched and curled in on itself as the attack hit.

Ray winced. “Cyndaquil…!”

“What the fuck are you doing, idiot? Call out a fucking attack!” Geoff snapped.

“O-Oh, right! Uh… Use Ember on Jigglypuff!”

As soon as it recovered, Cyndaquil stood up and shot small flames at the pink Pokémon. Matt made eye contact with it, and with a nod, the Normal Type sprinted to the side and out of the path of attack.

“Alright, Jigglypuff,” its Trainer said, “Use Pound on Stantler!”

“Dodge it!”

“Don’t let it miss!”

The smaller Pokémon leapt towards Stantler, arm swinging towards it, but the brown Pokémon jumped back just enough for it to miss. Using its other arm, Jigglypuff aimed and swung again, but once again, Stantler dodged, this time simply by ducking. This went on for about a minute longer until Jigglypuff finally landed it on Stantler’s head, knocking it to the ground.

Geoff frowned. “Get up!”

Slowly, the Normal Type staggered back onto its hooves; its Trainer smiled and balled his hand into a fist.

“Great! Use Take Down on it!”

Stantler snorted in acknowledgement and launched itself at the smaller Pokémon. After another quick moment of eye contact with its Trainer, it leapt up and away from it. As soon as it landed on the ground, Jeremy threw out a hand.

“Graveler, use Brick Break on Cyndaquil!”

The Rock Type began to run towards Ray’s Pokémon; it stared at it, frozen in fear.

“Cyndaquil, try to dodge it!” he yelled.

The Fire Type didn’t need to be told twice. It turned around and began to run away as fast as it could. Graveler continued to chase it, one of its arms extended in preparation. It began to gain on the smaller, and Jeremy took the chance.

“Now!”

Graveler leapt forwards and slammed its hand onto Cyndaquil’s back; it cried out in pain and collapsed to the ground.

“Cyndaquil!”

Matt and Jeremy exchanged a look and nodded at each other before the taller pointed at Stantler. “Jigglypuff, use Rollout!”

“You too, Graveler!”

“Use _what_?!” Geoff screeched.

Ray bit his lip, not quite sure what this attack was, but figuring that it was _not_ good if Geoff was reacting like this.

Both of the opponents’ Pokémon began to roll on the ground at a high speed, almost like a tire on a race car right as the light turned green. After a moment, they shot forward at their target Pokémon- Jigglypuff into Stantler, and Graveler into Cyndaquil. While the Normal Type was simply knocked to the ground, the Fire Type was hit into a nearby tree, slumping to the ground in an unconscious state.

“Cyndaquil!”

Ray ran away from the battle field towards his Pokémon; Geoff groaned as he watched him go.

“Come on, Ray, seriously?! You’re just going to fucking leave me like this?!”

There was no response, as the younger Trainer had reached Cyndaquil and was looking it over. The oldest growled and turned back to the battle, watching Stantler stand back up.

“Use Stomp on Jigglypuff! Try to knock it out of there!”

Stantler reared back to throw its hooves down onto the other Normal Type, but it was too fast and spun right past. It hit the Big Horn Pokémon’s back legs, knocking it to the ground again. As it stood back up, Graveler spun into it.

“Dammit!” Geoff yelled.

Geoff’s Pokémon skidded across the field. It slowly stood back up, just to be hit on both sides again by the Rollout Attacks. After that, it flopped to the ground, unconscious.

Matt and Jeremy cheered and high fived as their Pokémon slowed to a stop. The taller pulled his hand into a fist and punched the air.

“Fucking finally! It’s been so fucking long since we’ve won a Double Battle together!”

“It’s been so long since we’ve had a Double Battle at _all_ ,” Jeremy pointed out.

Before anyone else could say anything, Geoff whirled around to glare at Ray. “Are you fucking kidding me?!” he yelled. “We could have won that shit easy! What the fuck were you doing?!”

The youngest stood up, Cyndaquil in his arms. He opened his mouth to reply, but was cut off immediately.

“Why didn’t you take out Budew, or even that weak fucking Starly of yours?! At least it wouldn’t have been as affected by their Rollout! And seriously, pretty much the only thing you did was fucking dodge! That’s absolutely _no way_ to battle! What the fuck were you thinking?!”

Ray bit his lip and cast his gaze to the ground; Matt and Jeremy exchanged awkward glances. The shorter eventually cleared his throat and spoke up.

“Hey, man, calm down. It’s just a battle.”

Geoff whirled around and glared at him. “There’s no such thing as ‘just a battle,’ asshole! Every battle has something to gain from it, whether its experience or strength or what! When you fuck up as badly as he did, there’s no fucking excuse!”

Ryan hurried over and put a hand on the oldest’s shoulder. “Geoff, relax. He’s still learning how to battle. There’s no fucking need to be so harsh on him.”

“’No fucking need’? Were you even paying attention to that battle?!” he yelled.

As they Breeder attempted to calm him down, Gavin ran away from the others in favor of going to Ray. His head was still tipped down, and he was clutching Cyndaquil tightly. When Gavin began to get close, the youngest quickly stepped away until he looked up and saw who it was.

Gavin gave him a concerned look. “X-Ray, are you alright?”

Ray silently nodded, but turned away again as quickly as he could. The straw haired sighed and gently put an arm around him; he frowned.

“Bloody Arceus, Ray, you’re trembling,” he breathed.

The dark haired bit his lip and shut his eyes, nodding slowly. He opened his mouth to say something, but the only sound that came out was a choked noise. Quickly, he re-shut it, screwing his eyes closed and wincing.

“Hey, don’t worry about it,” Gavin whispered. “You’re alright. Nothing to be scared of.”

The older could feel Ray’s breathing pick up a little bit before he ripped himself away from the touch; when Gavin gave him a questioning look, he just opened and shut his mouth a few times before turning and running towards Jack. The Photographer sighed sadly and trailed after him.

As soon as Jack saw Ray running towards him, started to hurry in the same direction. “What’s wrong?” he asked. “Is Cyndaquil okay?”

He watched as the youngest attempted to reply, only to give up and just hold his Pokémon out to him. Having an idea of what was happening, he gently took it and nodded.

“I think it’ll be okay,” he reassured. “Just a Potion and some rest, and I’m sure it’ll be fine in no time. There’s nothing to worry about.” Gently, he patted Ray on the shoulder, but he flinched away almost immediately. Jack frowned before leading him to a less populated area in the clearing.

Gavin and Michael made eye contact across the field; the Ranger pointed to the other two Trainers, and the Photographer nodded. Together with Growlithe, they walked over to them and were immediately met with questioning looks.

“What the fuck is that guy’s deal?” Matt asked quickly.

Michael raised an eyebrow. “Which one, Geoff or Ray?”

“Geoff! I’ve never seen anyone get so furious over losing a battle before!” he exclaimed.

“Really? I was going to ask about the other one- Ray, isn’t it?” Jeremy stated. “He seems more than a little nervous…”

The two Achievement Hunters shared a glance. “Well…,” Michael began, “To be honest? I don’t know what the fuck’s going on with Geoff. I mean, I know that he hates losing battles, but still…”

Gavin raised an eyebrow, looking up. “Have we ever even _seen_ Geoffrey lose a battle?” he questioned.

Michael shook his head. “No, not that I can remember,” he answered. “But with Ray, he’s got issues with anxiety. I guess he must’ve been having an anxiety attack during the battle or something.”

“An anxiety attack?” Jeremy asked.

The Photographer groaned and rubbed a hand over his face. “I told him not to push himself!” he sighed. “Bloody hell, why doesn’t he just ever listen? He’s always got to push himself over the edge and into one of them! Why can’t he just ever relax?”

“You know, Gav, I don’t think it’s his fucking choice, moron,” Michael pointed out.

The younger huffed and crossed his arms. “Well, maybe if he would just bloody _try_ …”

Matt interrupted him before he could get any further. “I- I’m not following any of this,” he admitted.

“Don’t bother even trying,” Michael suggested. “Gavin’s just being dumb.”

“Wha- Mi-cool, when am I ever dumb?!”

“Every fucking day! Do you just not realize it?”

Gavin opened his mouth to reply, but was cut off by Jack walking over to them. The Pokémon Doctor was shaking his head, letting out a sigh.

“You guys had better not be fighting, too,” he grumbled. “Geoff and Ryan are having a fucking field day over there, and I don’t think anyone else yelling is going to help Ray’s anxiety.”

The Photographer frowned and looked at the older while Growlithe ran off towards the youngest. “Is he having an attack?”

“I don’t know. I asked him, and he said no, but he’s not talking or anything, so I don’t know.” Jack then turned to Matt and Jeremy. “I’m really sorry about all of this. We don’t usually fight this much, I swear. I have no fucking clue what’s going on with Geoff right now.”

Jeremy shrugged. “It’s fine. Everyone’s got their off days.”

“Like that one day in Gubbin…?” Matt mumbled.

“Alright, asshole, that was fucking different!”

Rolling his eyes, Jack turned to the other two. “I think we’re just going to stay here for the rest of the day,” he informed. “That’ll hopefully give Geoff enough time to cool off and Ray to relax.”

The two Lads nodded in understanding; Matt and Jeremy exchanged eye contact again.

“Uh, is there any chance that we could hang around here with you guys?” Matt asked. “I mean, we don’t really have anything to do for the rest of the day, and we’ve been meaning to take a break for a while…”

Gavin smiled at them. “I wouldn’t have a problem with it!” he quickly responded. “The more people the better, am I right?”

“Is it, though?” Michael questioned, casting a glance to the third Lad who was stood timidly near a tree. “I mean, if Ray’s-”

“Ah, it’s just an attack. He’ll get over it, won’t he? Besides, we can all be quiet, can’t we?”

“I don’t think sound is a factor in it,” Jack pointed out.

Gavin rolled his eyes. “ _Everything’s_ a factor in them. He’ll be fine. Just gotta leave him be for a bit, yeah?”

Before Michael could even open his mouth to retort, Jack shook his head and sighed.

“Whatever. Let’s just set up camp, okay?”

 

* * *

 

 

Hours later, when the sun was just starting to get low enough that the sky was tinted, Geoff finally began to calm down. He was talking with Jeremy off to the side about something unimportant, distracting himself from the guilt that was rapidly settling in. He kept sneaking glances over to Ray, who hadn’t left his spot near the tree since that afternoon, but had taken to sitting down. Jeremy kept noticing Geoff’s actions and shook his head.

“Dude, if you really feel that bad about yelling at him, why don’t you go apologize?” he asked.

Geoff narrowed his eyes at the shorter. “Why do you care?”

Jeremy gave him a confused look. “Why shouldn’t I? You seemed to make him pretty fucking upset. Is it a crime to worry about someone I barely know?”

The older held up his hands. “Fuck if I know, dude! I’m just saying that you barely know the guy-”

“Which I just said…”

“-Which you just said, and most people don’t start worrying about others until they at least know them for a little while.”

Jeremy hummed in understanding, but regardlessly turned and started to walk over to where Matt, Michael, and Gavin were talking. “Well, whatever, man. I still think you should go apologize.”

With that, he was out of earshot. Geoff groaned and looked back over to the youngest, knowing that the shorter Trainer had been completely right. He knew that everything he’d yelled before was probably enough to send Ray into an anxiety attack, and he knew that even _while_ he was yelling it. He just couldn’t stand losing. There were too many consequences to losing.

Still, he also knew that his past didn’t need to bleed into Ray’s life, so before he even completely registered what he was doing, he found himself walking over towards the youngest Trainer.

When he finally was stood in front of him, he realized the full extent of the damage he’d done to the kid. Ray immediately looked up at him with terrified eyes once he saw him, and he even began to back up a little bit. Geoff could practically see the tremors coming from him; he watched as he bit his lip tightly enough to break the skin and grabbed the hem of his sleeveless sweatshirt. He sighed.

“Ray, I- Look, I’m really sorry,” he said. “I shouldn’t have yelled at you like that. It was really immature of me. I know that you’re probably pretty fucking pissed at me, but for what it’s worth, like I said, I’m really fucking sorry.”

The younger stared at him for a moment, seemingly starting to relax a bit. He let his teeth let up on his lip, and a small drop of blood dripped down his chin; his fingers began to regain color as he slowly let go of his sweatshirt. His eyes started to go back to regular size, and he visibly became less tense than he was before. However, when he opened his mouth to speak, he hesitated and shut it. The older frowned and shook his head, crouching down next to him.

“Hey, look at me,” he said. Once he got the Trainer’s attention, he continued. “I told you this morning, and I’ll say it again- don’t push yourself, alright, kid?”

Ray took in a shaky breath. “O-Okay,” he breathed. “Okay.” He quickly wiped the blood away and put his legs down so that they were crossed. With a relieved sigh, Geoff copied his position.

“Is it alright if I sit with you?” he asked softly.

The youngest hesitated, still with a slight look of fear in his eyes. “I- Could we- uh- could we go sit with the, um, with the others, actually?” he stammered out. “N-Not that- not that I don’t want to sit with you, I- I just…”

Geoff stood up and offered out a hand. “No, dude, it’s fine. Don’t worry about it.”

Ray went to take his hand, but hesitated again and got up on his own. Silently, the two went to the area that Matt, Gavin, Michael, and Jeremy were sitting around a fire pit. Ray sat as far away from them as he could while still being with them, while Geoff plopped down next to Michael and Growlithe.

“Hey, just the Trainer I wanted to see!” the Ranger exclaimed. “These guys don’t believe us that you’ve got thirty three gym badges. Any chance you’ve got them with you to prove them wrong?”

The oldest shrugged. “Yeah, but I’ve only got twenty five of them on me.”

“Ha! See? I knew it!” Matt yelled. “He’s not nearly as impressive as we’d thought!”

“Hey, asshole, just because I don’t have them with me doesn’t mean I don’t have them at all,” Geoff snapped. “Mew, what a fucking child.”

“You’re the one who blew up on him for losing,” Jeremy pointed out, gesturing to Ray. The youngest glanced up before shrinking into himself a bit; Michael and Gavin glared at the shorter Trainer.

“Alright, leave him out of this,” Gavin ordered. “He hasn’t done anything wrong, you prick.”

“I never said he did!”

A pair of footsteps were heard behind them, and they turned to see Ryan walking down, raising an eyebrow.

“Really?” he sighed. “You guys can’t go for twenty minutes without arguing? Are you even trying?”

“Ray is,” Michael pointed out. “He hasn’t said a word all afternoon!”

The younger Trainer let a timid smile form on his lips when the Breeder looked at him; the older ran a hand over his face and shook his head.

“That’s because- You know what, fuck it. Dinner’s ready.”

The Achievement Hunters got up and began to head over to where Jack was sitting; Ray noticed that it was only them and turned to look at Matt and Jeremy.

“A-Aren’t you guys coming?” he asked softly.

The two glanced at each other before turning back to the youngest. “Are we supposed to?” Jeremy returned.

Ray hesitated. “I- I would assume so? I mean, I don’t- I don’t see why not…”

Matt scrambled to get up and rush forwards. “Oh, sweet, free food!”

Jeremy rolled his eyes, but got up regardless and followed the other two Trainers up to eat.

 

* * *

 

 

Later that evening, after the dishes had been cleaned and put away, the fire was crackling loudly as everyone sat around and talked quietly. Ray and Ryan were sat almost silently next to each other, only really making a comment every once in a while. Michael was telling Jack about the other regions he’d been to, and Gavin, Geoff, Matt, and Jeremy were talking about past gym battles they’d had.

“Why the hell would you take a Grass Type to an Ice Type Gym?” Geoff laughed. “Did you get your ass kicked in?”

“I don’t know, man,” Matt replied. “I was fucking stupid.”

Gavin looked at the taller. “Where did you say this was, again?”

“Sinnoh, in Snowpoint City,” he explained. “It’s the northern most town in the region.”

“That sounds like Beacon,” Geoff realized. “Our Ice Type gym is in the same town.”

“In Snowpoint?” The Photographer whipped his head around to look at the oldest, who laughed loudly.

“No, idiot, in Floe City. Is Snowpoint just as snow-covered as Floe is?”

Jeremy nodded. “At least, I would assume,” he added. “It’s pretty thick up there.”

The taller hummed in agreement and gestured to him. “Yeah, if you’ve got any questions about Sinnoh, I’d suggest asking him. That’s where he grew up.”

“Then where’d you grow up?” Gavin asked. “Is it as gorgeous as Snowpoint City sounds?”

Matt laughed shortly. “Yeah fucking right. I grew up in Kanto. There isn’t shit there.”

“Oh, I don’t know. From a picture stand point, I’d say that there’s at least _some_ stuff,” Geoff pointed out. “I mean, there’s that volcano, and lots of cliffs and shit.”

The taller Trainer shrugged. “Yeah, I guess. I guess that after living there for so long, you kind of forget what looks nice and what doesn’t.”

The other three all hummed in understanding. Gavin turned his focus onto the conversation being held next to them for a minute.

“Yeah, the ocean in Almia’s pretty great until you have to dive into it,” Michael sighed. “It’s pretty fucking intense down there.”

Jack nodded. “Isn’t there a beach in Hoenn, too?” he asked. “It’s in Silver- er, Salamance- No, uh…”

“Slateport City?”

“Yeah, that place!”

The Ranger shrugged. “Yeah, it’s alright. It’s not the best beach I’ve ever been to. Biggest, though, that’s for sure. Lots of shit to do there, and lots of people.”

“What’s the volcano called?” Jack suddenly asked. “I know there’s one there.”

“Yeah, it’s there. You can see it from the entire fucking region,” Michael pointed out. “But I never went there, so I couldn’t tell you. One of the kids in my graduating class is somewhere around there, if I can remember right. I think his name was Jackson? Something like that.”

The Pokémon Doctor hummed and was silent for a minute. “I think I want to go there someday.”

“Really?” Michael looked up at him.

“Yeah,” he said slowly. “Yeah, it sounds nice. Like there’s never a quiet moment.”

The Ranger laughed. “Yeah, I can guarantee that for sure.”

Ray turned away from the conversation, staring at the fire. It had been a super long day, so even though his anxiety attack had passed, his brain still wasn’t working as efficiently as it should have been. He couldn’t think of much to say, but he definitely had a bunch of concepts in his thoughts. Mostly about bringing up the thing with Ryan about talking about his anxiety. The only problem with that was that thinking about that gave him anxiety, which caused him to be unable to speak, which in turn made it so that his anxiety would grow worse and worse until he had an attack and want to talk about it after it was over. It was a vicious cycle, and Ray kind of wanted out of it.

He let out a quiet sigh, looking up towards the sky. “Ryan,” he said.

The Breeder looked at him. “What?”

He was quiet for a beat. “It’s really clear out tonight,” he eventually mumbled.

Ryan turned his gaze to look at the same place that Ray was, and after a minute, he also let out a deep breath.

“Yeah,” he stated. “Yeah, it is.”

They were quiet for another moment or two; it took Ray a moment, but he managed to hear Ryan humming a little bit. With a small smile, the Trainer began to relax, knowing what was to come next.

“There, out in the darkness- a fugitive running, running from God, fallen from grace, God be my witness, I never shall yield til we come face to face; til we come face to face…”

 

* * *

 

 

_It was dark._

_Everything surrounding Ray was pitch black; the dark haired whirled around, looking for any signs of life, but there was nothing. He took a shaky breath._

_“Guys?” he called out. “A-Anyone here? Guys?”_

_“For fuck’s sake.”_

_Ray whipped around at the voice, seeing Geoff standing behind him. He furrowed his brow, knowing that he hadn’t been there before, but he shook it off in favor of running towards him. Before he could make it, however, the oldest held out his hand and glared at him._

_“Why didn’t you take out Budew, or even that weak fucking Starly of yours?! At least it wouldn’t have been as affected by their Rollout! And seriously, pretty much the only thing you did was fucking dodge! That’s absolutely no way to battle! What the fuck were you thinking?!”_

_Geoff reached forward and shoved him. “Why don’t you just fucking go home already? No one likes you anyways! Just get the fuck out of here!”_

_Ray stumbled back, but caught his balance after a moment. On shaky legs, he looked up at the older Trainer. “B-But I thought you said…”_

_“I was lying!” Geoff snapped. “How fucking hard is it for you to realize that?! What makes you think that anyone likes you? We’re all just waiting for you to turn around and go back to Nucom, and the second you do, we’re going to have the biggest fucking celebration ever because you’ll finally be gone, and we won’t have to worry about your fucked up anxiety disorder anymore!”_

_He pushed Ray again, this time knocking him to the ground. The youngest slammed into his knee, causing him to yelp in pain._

_“Geoff…!”_

_“You’re just a fucking weak ass excuse for a Trainer! Like anyone’s ever going to remember you! You’re just a huge ass piece of shit!”_

_Ray screwed his eyes shut and reached up to cover his face; a pair of hands grabbed onto his shoulders, shaking him a little._

_“Ray? X-Ray!”_

_The Trainer cracked open his eyes. “G-Gav…?”_

“Yeah. Yeah, it’s just me. Are you awake?”

The youngest’s eyes shot wide open, and he flinched at the sudden brightness. He pulled his hands down closer to his face than they had been before pulling them away all together and squinting up at whoever it was that was holding him down. Despite the fact that he’d noticed it in his dream, it took another moment for it to click- Gavin.

He shot up into a sitting position and looked around for the others. Everyone had packed up and was ready to eat breakfast; the only thing it seemed that they were waiting on was Ray. His eyes laid on Geoff, and he began to shake a little bit.

Gavin raised an eyebrow at him, putting a hand on his arm. “Are you alright?” he asked. “You’re really bloody pale. Are you getting sick again?”

Shaking his head, Ray swallowed thickly. “N-No, just… Just a nightmare,” he quietly replied. “I- I’m fine.”

The Photographer frowned. “Are you sure? You seem pretty upset over it…”

“I-I’m sure.” Before Gavin could say anything else, Ray stumbled out of his sleeping bag and hurried over to the others. He sat as far away from Geoff as he could, choosing instead to sit next to Michael. Growlithe seemed to be able to sense his anxiety, so it crawled into his lap and rubbed its head against his abdomen. Ray gave it a weak smile and began to pet it.

“Fucking finally,” Michael sighed. “We can eat now, can’t we?”

Jack rolled his eyes and nodded, watching Gavin walk up and sit next to Geoff. “Yeah. Then we can hit the road.”

The food was soon distributed, and as they ate, Matt brought up the topic of where they were going, asking what gym they were going to next.

“We’re going to Gubbin City,” Geoff informed. “That’s the Fire Type Gym, right?”

Jeremy nodded. “Yeah. As long as you’ve got a Water Type or a Rock Type, you should be able to plow through that gym.”

“And the faster we get through that, the more time I’ll have to show you lot around!” Gavin exclaimed. “I’m so excited!”

“What about you two?” Jack asked. “Where are you going?”

“We’re on our way to Dirtbag Town,” Matt said. “Jeremy wants to talk to Professor Hullum about the Pokémon in this region and stuff.”

Michael snorted. “Fucking good luck with finding him.”

When the two gave the Ranger a curious look, Ryan rolled his eyes and answered their questions for him. “He doesn’t spend a lot of time in his lab,” he explained. “We were there a few days ago, and we spent an entire afternoon looking for him. He never turned up.”

“We’ll find him,” Jeremy declared. “It can’t be that hard, right? Just wait until he comes back to the lab in the evening. He’s gotta go there at some point, doesn’t he?”

“I would assume so,” Matt added.

Geoff rolled his eyes. “I don’t understand why you’d want to go to as big a shithole as Dirtbag Town…”

The others ignored the comment in favor of returning to their own conversation.

 

* * *

 

 

After their meals were finished and they’d all finished packing up, the group was back onto the path in no time. It took them a moment to figure out which direction went where, but as soon as they did, they looked at each other quietly.

“Well… See you around, I guess,” Geoff said to them.

Jeremy nodded at him. “Yeah. Maybe we’ll run into each other again sometime.”

“I hope so!” Gavin exclaimed. “Maybe after you guys beat Entity, we’ll end up meeting in Floe!”

“That’s a little far, Gavin,” Michael pointed out.

Matt laughed and gave a small wave. “Maybe we will. Bye, guys.” He made a point to make eye contact with Ray. “Bye, Ray! Hope your anxiety gets better!”

The youngest’s eyes widened, and he stammered a bit. “I- I- Uh, thanks…! See you!”

The others said their goodbyes quietly, and Matt and Jeremy were on their way. Ray watched them go, an unfamiliar warm feeling spreading in his chest. He snapped out of it when Gavin punched his shoulder gently.

“Aw, look at that! They care about you!” he laughed.

Ray smiled at him. “Yeah, they do.” He then snickered. “I mean, why shouldn’t they? What’s not to like, am I right?”

Gavin pushed the dark haired in a friendly manner, prompting him to take off down the path. Their chase went on as the others groaned and followed, leading them at a much quicker pace as the journey continued.

%MCEPASTEBIN%

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the read! Hope you enjoyed!
> 
> I'mma be honest here, this is probably my favorite chapter to date, just because Matt and Jeremy are my two favorite Achievement Hunters and I had so much fun writing them. You can definitely expect to see them again in later chapters... c:
> 
> Ryan's song this chapter: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urxk4mveLCw (It makes sense in context when you see the title)
> 
> ALSO!! IMPORTANT!! There WILL NOT be an update next week! I'm going away for the week, and will have very limited internet access, and will be with friends, so I most likely won't get the chance to update. Even if I do... I'm getting behind on being ahead, so I need to pause ^^;
> 
> In the meantime... Might I suggest this fic? http://archiveofourown.org/works/3279176
> 
> [Comfort Ray Button]


	24. Just Dropping In! Meet Griffon!!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A special person in Geoff's life spontaneously shows up, and they ask her to stay for a while. She eagerly agrees.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beacon Region Map: http://sweetiecurfyart.tumblr.com/post/111232399174/here-it-is-a-map-of-the-beacon-region-used
> 
> Art can be found here: sweetiecurfyart.tumblr.com  
> Follow me on Twitter under @Sweetie_Curfy

Gavin skidded to a stop, turning around to face the rest of the Achievement Hunters, who were trailing behind at a much slower pace. “And I can show you that bakery that Dan and my brother and I would always go to after classes! Oh my _Mew_ , that place had the best stuff!” he exclaimed. “I could never decide what to get there, because everything was just so good! I can’t believe how soon we’re going to be there!”

“Just two days,” Jack said for the fourth time that day.

“I know! Mew, I’m so bloody excited!”

Even Ray was rolling his eyes and sighing at this point. Since they’d run into Matt and Jeremy three days ago, the Photographer had been talking non-stop about going back home. The phrase “I’m so bloody excited” had been repeated about twice every hour, and they’d heard about everything at least three times- well, everything except for what Geoff considered the most important.

“Gavin,” he began, “are you ever going to tell us what the gym’s like? That’s, like, the only thing that I care about in this city.”

The younger deflated a bit, but quickly regained his posture and thought about it. “Well… for one, the Gym Leader’s absolutely top! He’s probably one of the greatest people in Gubbin at all, really. He- bloody shit _on a cock!”_

Halfway through Gavin’s monologue, something crashed down from the tree next to him. The straw haired leapt into Michael’s arms, as he was the closest; the Ranger snorted and dropped him to the ground.

“Fucking idiot.”

“Mi-cool!”

Before an argument could break out, Jack and Geoff were hurrying over to what had come from the tree. The older Trainer was laughing quietly.

“Nice of you to drop in,” he giggled to it.

Gavin shared a confused look with Ryan, both of them unaware of what had fallen. Once Geoff and Jack helped it stand up, they both let out an “oh” of understanding.

The woman in front of them ran a hand through her short, blonde hair and shook her head. “You fucking child,” she laughed. “You couldn’t think of anything better than that?” Readjusting her septum piercing, she looked up at the oldest, who shrugged.

“What the fuck did you want me to come up with?” he asked. “I’m not a Mew damn pun genius!”

Rolling her eyes, she got up on her tiptoes and pecked him on the lips. “No, but you could try.”

Before Geoff could respond to it, Gavin got up off of the ground and raised an eyebrow.

“Geoffrey, who’s this?” he asked innocently. “This your girlfriend or something?”

The Trainer didn’t take his eyes off of her. “Yeah, she is. Guys, this is Griffon. Griffon, these are my friends.”

She broke eye contact to look at them. “Nice to meet you guys,” she said.

“You too,” Ryan replied. “My name’s Ryan.”

The rest went through their names like they had the day before, with the only differences being that Ray was a bit more confident and said his own name, and Gavin going last. He still bounced over and held out his hand, though, which Griffon laughed and shook before turning back to Geoff.

“So… are we going to do what we usually do?” he asked quietly.

She smiled softly. “As long as you’re not in a hurry…”

“Guys, we’re stopping for a day.”

Gavin’s shoulders dropped. “What? Why?”

“Because I want to spend some time with my girlfriend, idiot,” he responded. “Don’t act like you wouldn’t be doing the same thing if you ever met yours.”

Gavin opened his mouth to say something, but Ray hurried over and touched his arm. “It’s only one day, Vav,” he said quietly. “It’s not that long.”

“Yeah, but… But Dan. And my brother,” he sighed.

Griffon watched the Photographer for a moment before turning back to her boyfriend. “You know,” she said, loudly enough that Gavin could hear, “we could spend the day with each other and travel.”

Geoff frowned. “Are you sure? Where are you going? I don’t want you to be late to wherever you’re headed.”

She shrugged. “Like Ray said, it’s only one day. Besides, I was going to make it to Salubrity early, anyway. I can afford to be behind.”

The Trainer stared at her for a beat, then let out a deep breath. “Yeah,” he said, “Alright. We can do that. But _only_ if we can do what we would usually do tonight.”

Griffon didn’t have the chance to reply; Gavin cheered and launched himself forward to hug her.

“You’re bloody awesome!” he exclaimed. She laughed and patted him on the head.

“Of course she is, Gavin. Why else would I be dating her?” Geoff questioned.

The Photographer turned and started to run down the path again, yelling something about Gubbin City. Most of the rest of the Achievement Hunters rolled their eyes and followed, but Geoff grabbed Griffon’s hand, interlocking their fingers and walking with them.

Michael made his way over to the couple, Growlithe settled comfortably on his shoulder. “Griffon, if you don’t mind me asking, what the fuck were you doing in that tree in the first place?”

She gave him a confused look before smiling and laughing quietly. “Oh, that. I was carving into the trunk,” she explained.

“That’s one of her hobbies,” Geoff added. “You can always tell where she’s been if you can see little carvings of Pokémon in the local trees. It’s her way of marking where she’s been. Kind of like how a Glameow pisses on everything.”

The blonde groaned with a laugh. “Come on, Geoff. It’s not always like that.”

“That’s true. She does legitimately pee on shit sometimes.”

“I won’t deny that.”

Michael hummed in understanding and stepped away; Geoff and Griffon made eye contact and laughed softly with each other.

In the quiet of the group, Ray hurried over to walk with Ryan. The Breeder looked at him and smiled gently.

“Ready to talk yet?”

The younger Trainer flushed, shaking his head. “Not… Not yet. Sorry.”

“It’s fine,” Ryan replied with a shrug. “You don’t have to talk unless you’re ready.”

The dark haired was quiet for a beat. “I was actually wondering if you could tell me how you got Exor,” he blurted out. His blush increased as soon as the words had been spoken, but he held his tongue to keep himself from taking it back.

Ryan raised an eyebrow. “Exor? What do you mean?”

“Like… How did you find it? I know you said you caught it with your brother’s PokeBall. How old were you? When did it evolve? What all happened?”

“Whoa, whoa, slow down, Ray!” the Breeder laughed. “Mew, you really want to know about Exor, don’t you?”

Ray gave an embarrassed smile. “I- I just really like Starmie,” he admitted softly. “I think they’re my favorite Pokémon. I just want to know a lot about them.”

Ryan hummed and looked down the path. “Well, tell you what. I’ll tell you all about Starmie and what I know about them if you tell me what your plan is.”

“M- My plan?”

“Yeah, you know, for tackling the next gym,” he explained. “It’s a Fire Type Gym, and you’ve got a Fire Type, a Grass Type, and a Flying Type. That’s not the greatest combination for that, you know, so you need to have a battle plan.”

Ray looked at the ground. “I… I haven’t thought about that.”

“I figured you wouldn’t have,” Ryan said. “Not a lot of beginning Trainers do. Most don’t think about that until they’re a few gyms into their second or third region. Maybe you should start thinking about that tonight.”

The youngest hummed. “Maybe I will.”

A gasp rang out from the front of the group; when they all looked at Gavin, his mouth was wide open as he stared at a Pokémon flying above them. Once he broke out of his trance, he whipped out his camera and started taking photos. Griffon let out an awed breath and broke away from Geoff.

“A shiny Pidgeot,” she breathed. Quickly, she pulled a sketch book out of her bag and a pencil from her belt and began to draw, taking hasty glances above her. As soon as her sketch was completed, the Pidgeot had flown out of sight, and she let herself sigh in relief.

“Thank Mew,” she mumbled. “I wasn’t sure that I was going to get that one down in time.”

“Let me see,” Geoff said, pulling the sketch book out of her hands. He gave a satisfied and proud smile. “It’s great as always, hon.”

As the Trainer began to flip through the other pages, Jack turned to Griffon. “So you’re an artist, then?”

“A Pokémon Artist, specifically,” she pointed out, “Although I do draw other things sometimes. I sell my art at shows around the region, and sometimes go to other ones, like Johto or Hoenn.”

Gavin moaned quietly. “Mew, I’d give anything to go to Johto,” he sighed. “Everything’s so damn beautiful there…”

Griffon nodded. “That’s for sure. I don’t think I’ve ever drawn more than I did when I was there.”

“Speaking of drawings from Johto,” Geoff chimed in, pointing at one of the pages, “Isn’t that where you drew this one?”

Griffon peered over his shoulder and smiled fondly. “Yeah,” she said. “I think that’s still one of my favorites, too.”

Geoff hummed. “Mine, too,” he mumbled.

“What is it?” Gavin asked. “I wanna see!”

“Gavin, shut the fuck up,” Michael snapped. “They’re having a moment, moron.”

The oldest rolled his eyes with a quiet laugh. “Such a baby.” Regardlessly, he held out the sketch book for the Photographer to take. The straw haired pulled it out of his grip and held it far enough in front of him for the others to be able to see as well.

On the paper was a sketch of Geoff, looking younger than he was now, fast asleep under a tree with Vulpix curled up on his chest. His hand was rested on its back, and his mouth was hung open slightly. The scarf that he had now wasn’t there, but otherwise, his outfit was about the same. The lines were a little blurred, and the page a little crumpled from the time that had passed since it was first created, but it was still as beautiful as they could imagine it being.

Gavin handed it back with a sigh. “Mew damn, that’s good. Wish I could draw like that.”

“You must sell a lot,” Jack commented. “Especially if that’s only a sketch.”

Griffon shrugged. “Yeah, I mean, business is okay. I’m not the best out there, but I do get more than some people.”

When she opened her bag to replace her sketch book, Ray gave it a curious look. “Why do you have so many sketch books?” he asked quietly. Immediately, he froze up a tad and stammered out, “I- I mean… S-Sorry, I guess I shouldn’t have looked, I’m sorry-”

“It’s okay!” Griffon laughed, holding up a hand to cut him off. “There’s no need to freak out like that. I have a different sketch book for different things that I’m working on. That one that I just had out I use whenever I’m with Geoff, but I have one that’s specifically for scenery, another for Dragon Type Pokémon, another for just sketches, another for colored pieces… The list could go on for fucking ages, really.”

Ryan raised an eyebrow. “What happens if one crosses into the other?” he questioned. “What if you see a Dragon Type when you’re with Geoff, or if you want to color a piece of scenery?”

“I just choose one of them and go with it. Usually, no matter what other one it could go under, if I’m with Geoff, that’ll take priority. Most of the time, though, I just pick which ever one feels right.”

Michael hummed. “That’s a really good idea,” he commented. “Gavin, do you do that with your pictures?”

“Oh, Mew, no,” he laughed. “Mine are all a mess. I wouldn’t be able to tell you what picture is on what SD Card for my life.”

The group began to walk again, and Griffon turned to Gavin. “So you’re a Pokémon Photographer, Gavin?”

The younger beamed. “Hell yeah, I am! I’m aiming to be the best one in the Beacon Region!” he exclaimed. “I take pictures of everything I can, with every chance I get!”

“He’s not lying,” Michael pointed out. “I’d assume we’d already be out of Gubbin City by now if he wasn’t constantly making us stop for a picture of a fucking bird’s nest or some shit like that.”

“Aw, Mi-cool!”

“Don’t act like it’s not true, idiot.”

As the two started up another argument, Geoff rolled his eyes and looked at his girlfriend.

“They’re constantly doing this,” he sighed. “Better get used to it.”

She laughed quietly and watched them go at each other. “I don’t know,” she replied, “I kind of like it. They’re like kids, especially Gavin.”

“You’re fucking telling me.”

 

* * *

 

 

As the day went on, more conversations were exchanged, and bit by bit the group began to know Griffon more and more. They all started to like her quite a lot, as did she to them. She was cracking jokes along with them as the day went on, and even started pulling pranks in the afternoon. They were having so much fun, in fact, that most of them forgot that she was only spending the day, until she mentioned it when they were setting up camp for the night.

Gavin’s shoulders fell. “Oh, that’s right,” he mumbled. “You have to go soon.”

She smiled softly at him and walked over to where he was rolling out the sleeping bags long enough to set a hand on his shoulder. “I’m not leaving yet,” she reminded. “I’m still spending the night with you guys. We’ve got time to hang out.”

He smiled back at her until his face suddenly lit up and he jumped onto his feet. “If you’ve got time, could you sketch our Pokémon?” he quickly asked. “I’ve been dying to get a painting of Midnight since it first evolved!”

Before Gavin could go any further, Griffon held up her hands. “Whoa, whoa, whoa, Gav- I don’t just give away drawings to just anyone,” she pointed out. “I don’t usually work for free.”

“What? But it’s just one piece…”

“One piece can sometimes take me hours. Besides, there’s a huge difference between a sketch and a painting,” she reminded. “Even if it is just one sketch, this is my job, kid. I have to survive off of the money I get for doing things like this.”

He frowned, but nodded regardlessly. “Alright, I get it,” he sighed. “I guess I should have known that.”

She smirked and roughly ruffled his hair. “Hey, it’s fine. How long have you been doing photography for, anyways? I doubt it’s been too long.”

Gavin cast a glance to the little pouch where his camera resided. “I mean… I guess all of my life, really. I just didn’t start taking it seriously until a few months before I met Ray. I haven’t been selling it or anything, either. It’s only a hobby right now.”

Humming, she threw and arm around his shoulder and walked him away from the sleeping bags and closer to the woods. “Let me give you a little advice, then. If and when you do start selling you work, make sure you don’t take anyone’s shit. People are going to ask you to do shit for free, like you just did- and sometimes they won’t know any better, like you –but others are going to think they’re entitled to it. Like, just because you’re friends, or they’ve known you for a while, or they’ve done a lot of favors, that they deserve something you’ve poured yourself into.

“And when you tell them no, they’ll try to fuck with you. They’ll steal your work and claim it as their own, or they’ll spread rumors about you. Sometimes they’ll even destroy your stuff just for the hell of it, out of spite. And that’s just how it is in the art industry.” She pulled away her arm and sighed. “You just gotta tell them to fuck off and push on with your own shit. Don’t let anyone bring you down, okay? Because haters won’t always do that. If you don’t believe them, you’ll be fine.”

Gavin stared at her for a long moment. “I… Alright,” he said softly. “Thanks.”

She reached over and ruffled his hair again. “My pleasure, kid. You’re going to be fine.”

He smiled before looking at his PokeBalls; after a moment of silence, he pulled one off and gestured to where the others were.

“I’m going to go join them,” he said. “I want to let Togepi out for a little while before we bring out the rest of them.” With that, he turned and ran over. Griffon watched him until a pair of arms wrapped around her midsection.

“So… those activities,” a voice behind her mumbled.

She slapped his hand. “Come on, Geoff, not now. We’re going to be eating soon.”

She heard a small whine. “Please? It’ll be quick! They won’t even notice!”

Rolling her eyes, she broke away and turned to look at him. “’Won’t even notice’ my ass! You’re the loudest person I’ve ever fucked!”

He smirked, looking her in the eye. “I hope no one’s noticing your ass…”

Griffon let out a sigh before shoving him towards the trees. “The things I put up with…”

At the same time as they were heading out of sight, Ray was watching everyone take out their Pokémon. He saw Exor come out of its PokeBall, and he looked at Ryan hopefully. The older met his eyes and raised his eyebrows.

“Got a plan yet?” he asked.

Ray’s shoulders dropped, and he looked away. “No…”

“Then not yet. You remember our agreement, don’t you?”

“Yeah…”

Ryan nodded, turning away from the youngest to focus back on laying the bowls out. Jack caught his attention and raised an eyebrow at him.

“What the hell is that about?” the ginger asked.

“Ryan and I made an agreement that if I tell him my plan for the next Gym, he’ll tell me about his Starmie!” Ray interjected, a smile wide on his face.

The Pokémon Doctor laughed quietly and looked at the older. “Ryan, is that true?”

“Yeah, I figured that since he wants to learn so much about it, I could help him figure out something that he needs to know and use this as bribery.”

Ray looked between the Breeder and his Pokémon, a thoughtful look on his face. A slightly nervous one appeared after that, and he eventually grabbed the hem of his sweatshirt and asked, “Ryan, could I… Could I play with Exor? Just for a little while! I- I’ve already finished what you guys asked me to do, and I mean, if you need me to do anything else, I can do that too, but like, if it’s okay with you, and there’s nothing else I need to do…”

Shaking his head with a smile, Ryan sighed. “Go ahead.”

The youngest gasped softly, and after a quick, “Thank you, Ryan!” he scurried off with the Water Type. The two Gents made eye contact, chuckling at the innocence as they turned back to their work.

“Just make sure you finish up before we eat!” the Breeder called over his shoulder. “I don’t want either of you skipping a meal because you were having too much fun!”

“We won’t!”

 

* * *

 

 

As he had almost predicted, Ray and Exor were next to last in reaching the group once the food was done. The younger Trainer had a bit of sweat matting his hair to his forehead, and he was panting, but a large grin was plastered on his face. Michael snorted when he saw this.

“What the fuck did you do with Exor?” he laughed. “Were you guys fucking or something?”

Ray scowled and slapped the Ranger on the arm. “Fuck no! We were just climbing trees and shit!”

“You were climbing shit? Ray, that’s fucking disgusting.”

“N-No, that’s not what I meant!”

“Hey, wait!” Gavin suddenly exclaimed. “Speaking of shit, where’s Geoff?”

The other Lads began to cackle hysterically, but the remaining Gents realized the problem and looked around.

“That’s right,” Ryan remembered. “Didn’t he and Griffon go off into the woods earlier?”

“You don’t think they got into trouble, do you?” Jack asked worriedly.

“ _They’re_ probably the ones fucking,” Michael pointed out jokingly. “I mean, did you see the way Geoff was looking at her? It was like a fucking Sunflora staring at the sun!”

“Oh Mew, he was!” Gavin chimed in. “Or like a Mightyena looking at its prey!”

Ray laughed. “He’s probably on her now like a Remoraid on a Mantine!”

The other two burst out laughing at the comment; Ryan huffed and shook his head.

“You guys are so fucking immature…”

He turned to Jack to say something, but was thrown off when he saw the younger Gent looking a bit pale. Frowning, he put a hand on his arm to grab his attention.

“Are you okay?” he asked softly.

Jack opened his mouth to reply; he was cut off when he saw Geoff and Griffon finally making their way back into the clearing. Both of their hair was messed up, and they were casting confused looks to the Lads, who were practically rolling on the ground at this point. As they walked back hand in hand, it became more and more obvious what had happened in the woods. The realization struck Jack in the same moment that his stomach did a flip, causing him to unintentionally groan. Slowly, he lowered himself to the ground and put his head between his knees. In a second, Growlithe was at his side, pawing tentatively at his leg.

He felt a hand gently rest on his shoulder. “I guess that’s a no, then?” Ryan laughed, voice just below a whisper. After the ginger nodded, he heard the older crouch next to him. “What’s wrong?”

“Nausea,” Jack mumbled. “I don’t know what it is, or why it just came over me…”

The Breeder hummed in understanding. “What do you need?”

He swallowed thickly. “I think maybe just some water.”

There was a quick beat of silence. “Michael, could you-?”

“I’m on it.”

A pair of footsteps hurried off in the direction of where they’d left their bags; Ryan gently lifted Jack’s head to pull off his glasses and hat. As soon as he set those on the ground, he put his wrist on the younger’s forehead.

“Well, no fever, so that’s a good sign,” he mumbled. “Do you want to lie down for a while?”

Taking a deep breath, Jack shut his eyes and shook his head. “No, I think I’ll be alright,” he said softly. “I think I just need to take the night off or something. Maybe I’m just tired.”

He placed his elbow on his knee and rested his forehead in his hand. A few mumbles caught his ear, containing the voices of a certain Trainer and Photographer, and he let out a sigh.

“Ray, it isn’t your fault,” he called over. “There’s no way that whatever you had carried over to now. Besides, you had a fever and a cough and stuff. I only have the upset stomach.”

There was another moment of quietness throughout the group. “Y-Yeah, but…,” Ray replied, “But what if the germs were like, on something, and they didn’t die or whatever, and…”

Opening his eyes, he sent the youngest an amused look. “It’s been almost two weeks, dude. Germs just don’t survive that long- at least, not stomach bug germs. You’re fine.”

At this point, Michael came back with the water, handing it to the Pokémon Doctor with a sympathetic smile. Jack returned it with a thankful one and took a few sips of the drink in hand.

“Maybe you’re overheated?” Griffon suggested as she sorted out her hair. “I mean, it has been pretty warm today, and with what you’re wearing…”

Ryan looked him over. “She does have a point,” he said, watching Growlithe take the younger’s shall into its mouth and pull on it. Gently, he tugged it away and lifted it off, making sure to pet the Fire Type a little afterwards. “Do you think this will help?”

“Well… We’ll see, I guess,” he laughed weakly. “You guys should eat. I’ll hold off until I’m feeling a little better.”

As he slowly made his way to his feet with the help of Ryan, Gavin raised an eyebrow. “Are you sure?”

“Absolutely. Can’t have all of us getting sick from malnutrition, can we?”

“No, not that, I meant are you sure you’re not going to eat anything?” the Photographer corrected. “We don’t want you getting malnutrition any more than you want us to get it…”

Jack laughed. “It’s one meal, Gavin. I’m sure I’ll be fine.” With that, he carefully made his way over to a tree that was close by and sat down underneath it. The group exchanged worried glances, but shrugged it off and went to the food.

While they were doing that, Ray kept his eyes on the ginger. He bit his lip when he saw him running a hand over his face weakly; frowning, he turned and hurried over to his bag. Gavin noticed him go and furrowed his eyebrows in confusion.

“X-Ray?”

After digging through his bag for a moment, the Trainer finally came across the item he was looking for. With satisfied smile, he went back to where Jack was sat and offered it out to him.

“I don’t know if it’ll help you,” he quietly said, “But sometimes when I’m nauseous, music helps me calm down. You can listen to my stuff, if you want.”

Jack stared at him for a moment before a smile broke through. He gently took the PokeBall shaped MP3 player and nodded at him.

“I’ll be sure to try it,” the Doctor firmly stated. “Thank you.”

Ray shot him a grin before scurrying over to the others again. In the time that he had been gone, Griffon and Geoff had taken out their Pokémon to join the others; Gavin shot the younger Trainer a look, and he pulled out his PokeDex as soon as he got the chance.

_Noctowl, the Owl Pokémon. Even in the most minimal levels of light, Noctowl can use its super-sharp eyesight to find objects._

_Owned by: Griffon O’Connell_

_Smeargle, the Painter Pokémon. Using its tail like a paintbrush to claim its territory, Smeargle is capable of over five thousand different marks._

_Owned by: Griffon O’Connell_

The Artist looked at the device in Ray’s hand. “Is that a PokeDex?” she asked.

The youngest snapped his gaze up to meet hers, nodding anxiously. “I-I… Uh, yeah. I got it from Professor Hullum.”

She hummed and stepped over to look closer at it. “Could I see it for a minute?”

“Uh… Yeah, sure, I guess.”

He handed her the PokeDex, which she took gently. She fiddled with it for a moment, pressing buttons here and there, before giving it back with a smile.

“Well, I can honestly say I’ve never seen one like that before!” she laughed. “That must be the prototype he was working on the last time I saw him. Good for him! He actually finished something!”

Geoff cackled and put an arm around her, leading both her and Ray to where the others had sat down to eat. “Now _that_ is a fucking miracle.”

Noticing the confused looks that the other Achievement Hunters were giving them, Griffon explained, “Professor Hullum’s pretty known for saying he’s starting a project and then never finishing it. Actually, he usually tells other people about it, and then when he inevitably forgets about it, he tells them to go make it themselves if they really want it.”

Gavin’s eyes were wide with excitement. “So… You know Professor Hullum personally?” he asked excitedly. “How the hell did you manage that?!”

Griffon laughed. “Well… It’s kind of a long story. Let’s just say that he helped me out on something a while back, and ever since we’ve kept in contact.”

The Photographer sighed and sat back a bit. “You must have the most awesome life.”

“Yeah?” she replied.

“Yeah.”

“If you listen to that advice I gave you earlier, I’d bet real money on yours being the same way.”

A grin split onto Gavin’s face; he nodded at her. Immediately after, he began to scarf down the rest of his food, earning a howl of laughter from Michael.

“Arceus, Gav, you’re gonna choke! Slow the fuck down!”

The straw haired attempted to say something in reply, but it was muffled by the food stuffed in his mouth. Instead, the only thing that came out were bits of the meal inside. Everyone leaned back in disgust, groaning at the sight.

“Ah, fucking hell, Gavin, keep your mouth shut!” Ryan yelped.

The younger looked at him and tried to answer, and it was yielded with the same results. Ray scrunched his nose up.

“Alright, well, that’s a little unnecessary,” he mumbled.

After a short laugh, Gavin finally managed to swallow his food. As soon as he had done so, he jumped up, pulling his camera out of its designated little bag, and started sprinting towards the Pokémon.

“I’m gonna get some pictures before the light’s gone!” he announced quickly. “I’ll come hang out with you guys later!”

He rushed off, leaving the others to roll their eyes and continue their meals in peace.

 

* * *

 

 

In the time between he’d been given the MP3 and now, Jack could easily say that he’d learned a lot about Ray’s music tastes.

There wasn’t much in the way of musicals- thank Mew for that, since he’d heard more than enough of those from Ryan- but he was definitely surprised by a lot of the artists on there. One Direction had made an appearance more than once when he put the device on shuffle, and when he looked, Ray owned two or three of their albums. A lot of space was taken up by Ed Sheeran, along with some bands that Jack could only describe as “emo”. There were a few weird songs that seemed really out of place, but overall it was the same, basic mix. It made the Pokémon Doctor start to wonder what gave Ray this taste in the first place.

He was so focused on trying to figure it out that he didn’t realize someone was sitting next to him until he felt a tap on his shoulder.

Quickly, he pulled the earbuds out and looked at the younger sitting next to him. Michael gave him a gentle smile, pulling his knees up close to his chest.

“How’re you feeling?” he asked quietly.

Jack looked away. “A hell of a lot better, actually. Kind of like it never even happened,” he informed. “I don’t know what it was. I’m wondering if I just heard something that subconsciously freaked me out or something.”

Michael raised an eyebrow. “What could have done that?”

“I don’t know. That’s what I’ve been trying to figure out.”

The younger hummed in understanding. “Maybe you just had a cramp,” he suggested. “I’ve been having them for a couple of days. Maybe we both caught something and these are just the first-”

“Wait, wait, wait, you’ve been having cramps?” Jack cut in. “Where? How bad have they been?”

The Ranger’s face flushed as he shrugged. “Just in like, my stomach. You know. And they’ve been really mild. It’s nothing to worry about, dude. I’m just saying that we might have caught the same thing or something.”

Jack stared at him, concern written all over his features. “What do they feel like? Are they sharp, dull…?”

“Jack, I told you, it’s nothing to worry about,” Michael huffed. “Don’t freak out over them. I’m sure it’s nothing.”

After a beat of silence, the ginger forced himself to relax. “Alright. But if they start getting any worse, let me know as soon as possible, okay? I don’t want you dying in the middle of Route 16 due to internal bleeding because you didn’t say anything.”

Michael laughed. “Yeah, alright, whatever.”

 

* * *

 

 

The moon was high and full that night, casting a soft glow on the camp sight. It highlighted the way that Gavin’s hair was sticking up in a thousand directions, and how Taylor was curled up into Jack’s side. It drew attention to Ray’s sleeping face- relaxed, as was a rare occurrence since he’d left home. The light was bright on Michael’s position, where his knees were practically touching his chest. Ryan was laying on his stomach, face buried into his pillow and mumbling softly into it.

With a soft smile, Griffon rolled onto her side, wrapping an arm around Geoff under their make-shift blanket. The two had taken their sleeping bags and unzipped them the entire way to make a substitute bed, allowing them to get as close to each other as they could. She gently planted a kiss on his cheek, and he returned it on the lips.

“Mew, if I wasn’t so tired, I’d be sketching the hell out of this,” she whispered. “It’s so gorgeous tonight.”

Geoff stared at her quietly, watching silently as she started to go off about her latest projects and everything. He lost focus in the words and instead listened to how her voice fluctuated with each word that she said. Gaze trailing across her, he tried to memorize every curve and crevice in her body just by looking. He watched how her jaw opened and shut as she spoke, how her chest rose and fell as she breathed, how her hair would fall when she ran a hand through it.

He quietly ran a hand over her arms, feeling the contrast between his rough palms and her smooth skin. Letting the pad of his thumb make circles, he took note of every bump, scar, and calice that he could see. His mind tried to work to remember what they were each from, but it kept falling back onto watching her speak. He watched quietly and contently as her eyes sparkled in the moonlight and passion of her works; before he could catch it, he found himself whispering, “I love you, Griffon.”

Her speech was cut off, and she looked at him for a beat. A smile spread on her lips, and she pressed hers against his before whispering back, “I love you, too.”

The Trainer let out a soft sigh. “I don’t want you to go,” he admitted. “I love spending time with you.”

Griffon put her hand on his cheek. “I don’t want to go, either. But it’s my job, Geoff. You know that. And you’ve got your job.”

“That doesn’t make it any easier,” he breathed.

Her smile faded away, and she pulled him in as closely as she possibly could. “No,” she mumbled. “No, it doesn’t.”

 

* * *

 

 

Ryan was humming softly to himself, sipping on his instant coffee, when Gavin made his way back into the clearing the next morning. The Breeder glanced over at the younger’s bag in confusion, seeing it completely packed and ready to go. He turned to the Photographer as he sat next to him.

“Where were you?” he asked curiously.

Gavin grinned and pulled out his camera. “Taking pictures! Look at them!” he exclaimed, scrolling through the device in his hand. “The sunrise was bloody gorgeous this morning. I would have woken you guys up, but I didn’t want to piss you all off. So I just took pictures instead, and they came out pretty top!”

The older nodded, looking at the screen. “Nice,” he hummed.

The two were quiet for a moment, with Ryan returning to his humming and Gavin getting up to get some coffee of his own. When he came back, the Breeder gestured to the camera again.

“So I take it Griffon’s really inspired you, then?” he questioned.

“Yeah,” the younger replied with a smile. “She’s been giving me a lot of advice on selling my stuff and everything, not to mention about keeping going with this and not giving up.”

“Pretty solid advice, if I have anything to say about it.”

Gavin took a drink, cringing as soon as the dark liquid touched his tongue. “Bloody hell, how do you drink this crap?” he coughed.

Laughing, Ryan raised an eyebrow. “Well, you usually put cream or sugar in it before drinking it,” he pointed out.

Before Gavin could say anything else, Michael stumbled his way over to the two, squinting in the sunlight. He plopped down across from them, letting out a soft groan and a yawn.

“Morning, boi!” Gavin said. “How’re you on this fine morning?”

“Gavin, please, not so loud,” he moaned. “I’ve got a hell of a headache…”

The other two shared a glance before turning back to him. “Do you need some pain medication or something? I think Jack has some,” Ryan pointed out.

“I… might. I don’t know yet.”

Gavin glanced down at the mug in his hand. “You want some coffee? I mean, caffeine will probably help. It helps with migraines, at least.”

Michael eyed the offered drink. “Is it black?”

As soon as the Photographer nodded, the Ranger shut his eyes and held out his hand. Gavin placed the mug into it, and Michael immediately downed about half of it in one swig. The straw haired held back a gag and looked away.

“Bloody hell…”

“What, can you not handle a little bitter coffee?” Michael snapped. “Grow the fuck up, dude.”

Ryan gave him an unbelieving stare. “What’s your problem?” he huffed. “We didn’t do anything to you!”

The auburn haired let out a long sigh. “Sorry,” he eventually grumbled. “I’m just… in a bad mood.”

“You’re telling us,” Gavin laughed.

“Not helping, asshole.”

Rolling his eyes, Ryan got up. “Alright. Well, I’m going to go wake the others up. Maybe they’ll be in better moods than yours.”

As soon as he was gone, Michael shifted into his spot. Gavin looked at him and pulled out his camera.

“You wanna see the sunrise from this morning?” he asked cautiously.

The Ranger stared angrily at him for a moment; the Photographer started to put it away, but Michael’s hand shot out and grabbed his wrist.

“Yeah, might as well,” he sighed, a smile threatening to pull onto his face.

Gavin grinned and turned the camera on.

 

* * *

 

 

Once everyone had eaten and packed up, they were heading back towards the path by taking a short walk through the woods. Geoff had an arm wrapped tightly around Griffon as they walked. They were wrapped up in a low conversation that no one really wanted to intrude on, which lead the others to stay away.

As soon as they got to the path, all eyes turned to the couple, who simply stared at the ground for a few beats.

“…So,” Geoff mumbled.

Griffon frowned. “So.”

There was another moment of silence before the oldest suddenly whirled around and wrapped the Pokémon Artist into a tight hug. They clutched at each other as if they were never going to see each other again; if they listened closely, the other Achievement Hunters could hear soft whispers coming from them.

“We need to do a better job at keeping in contact,” he remarked quietly. “Call me when you get to Salubrity Town?”

“I’ll try. Where will you be?”

“Hopefully in Gubbin City still. If not, call Cultivate Town. I assume we’ll be heading there next.”

He felt her nod against him. “I’m going to Autumn City after this. Try to call me when you get the chance, okay?”

Pulling away, Geoff planted a long kiss on her lips. When they parted, he pressed their foreheads together and said softly, “I promise.”

The sound of a grimace shattered the moment, and the Trainer turned to glare at Michael.

“Mew, this is disgusting,” he groaned. “You guys have the sappiest fucking romance in the history of-”

“Michael,” Ryan growled.

The Ranger shut his mouth, but kept his grimace turned towards the ground. Geoff rolled his eyes, turning back to Griffon and kissing her on the forehead.

“Call me as soon as you can, okay?”

She pulled away and started to head down the path, walking backwards and keeping her eyes on Geoff. “I will, you idiot.”

“And don’t do anything stupid without me!”

Laughing loudly, she nodded. “Okay, okay! I won’t. Gavin, don’t forget what I told you, okay?”

The Photographer was a little taken aback, but he nodded. “You got it, Griffon!”

“See you all later!”

Everyone shouted their goodbyes, and she turned around to see where she was going. Geoff stayed in one position, watching her until she was gone and staring at the spot where she’d disappeared long after she was out of sight.

Jack placed a hand on his shoulder. “You’ll see her again,” he reminded.

Geoff sighed, finally tearing his eyes away and turning to walk down the path in the opposite direction. “I know.”

The others shared sad glances, but followed him anyway. Ray rushed forward to walk next to the oldest, and the two shared a sad smile before focusing on the path ahead as the journey continued.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the read! Hope you enjoyed!
> 
> This was also my first time writing romance in a very, very long time... I studied my favorite scenes in Looking For Alaska, so if it comes off as very John Green-esque, that's why. I hope it wasn't too terribly bad ^^;
> 
> Ryan's song this chapter: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQaVSORGRgs
> 
> [Comfort Jack Button]  
> [Comfort Michael Button]  
> [Comfort Geoff Button]


	25. Rush to Gubbin! Michael's Agony!!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Michael's cramps get bad. Like, really bad.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beacon Region Map: http://sweetiecurfyart.tumblr.com/post/111232399174/here-it-is-a-map-of-the-beacon-region-used
> 
> Art can be found here: sweetiecurfyart.tumblr.com  
> Follow me on Twitter under @Sweetie_Curfy
> 
> TW: Anxiety Attack

After a morning of hard traveling and silence, the Achievement Hunters were finally stopping for a short break. They were congregated under a tree, finishing up their lunches, when Gavin glanced over and realized that Michael had hardly touched his food. Frowning, he looked up at him.

“Mi-cool, boi, are you feeling alright?” he asked quickly.

The auburn haired turned his gaze up; he felt his face flush when he realized that the Photographer’s question had grabbed everyone’s attention. Glaring, he focused his attention back onto his food.

“I’m fine,” he sighed out. “I’m just… not that hungry.”

“Well, hungry or not, you need to eat,” Ryan pointed out. “If you pass out on the path, we’re not-”

Michael quickly waved him off. “Yeah, yeah, you’re not going to carry me or whatever. I know.”

The Breeder and the Photographer shared a look, but otherwise, everyone turned their attention away. Jack took this opportunity to move to sit next to the Ranger.

“Are you still having cramps?” he questioned, softly enough that the others wouldn’t hear.

Michael hesitated. “…Not right now, no,” he replied. “Last night they were pretty fucking intense, though. I almost couldn’t sleep.”

The older frowned. “Why didn’t you come get me or Ryan or someone?”

“They weren’t that big of a deal, Jack. I dealt with them just fine. Plus, I just kind of figured they’d go away on their own eventually.”

After a moment of quiet, Jack hummed. “Do you get these kind of cramps a lot?”

Michael shrugged. “I mean… I did when I was younger. I started taking some medication to get rid of them, but then I had to stop that when I got put on some other stuff because they’d clash or whatever. Not that it really fucking mattered anyway, because the new stuff got rid of what was causing it in the first place.”

“Are you still on the new stuff?”

The younger frowned, picking at his sandwich. “I should be,” he whispered. Letting out a sigh, he finally looked up and turned his gaze towards the others. “Does anybody want the rest of this? I’m not going to eat it.”

Ryan gave him a stern look. “Michael-”

“Look, Rye-bread,” the Ranger quickly replied, “I know I need to eat, okay? But if I eat any more of this, I’m seriously going to puke my fucking guts out, and I’d rather not fucking do that.”

Everyone looked at each other hesitantly; Gavin was the first to shrug and speak up.

“Why don’t you give it to Growlithe? It looks like it’s still hungry,” he pointed out.

Michael handed the sandwich to Growlithe, who eagerly took it and began to wolf it down. He sat back, mentally preparing himself for the rest of the day as they waited for the Fire Type to finish up.

 

* * *

 

 

Once they were back on the path, Ray was quick to keep by Geoff’s side. The older Trainer had been silent ever since they’d left Griffon that morning, and the youngest was intent on getting the oldest to talk about it.

Hesitantly, Ray grabbed the hem of his sweatshirt and looked up at him. “Is everything okay?” he asked quietly.

“Fine.”

The short reply made him flinch a bit; once he got himself under control, he swallowed thickly and replied, “Are you-?”

“Yes, Ray, I’m sure,” Geoff snapped. “I’m absolutely positive that nothing is wrong.”

“Geoff, come on. Don’t be an asshole just because you miss your girlfriend,” Ryan sighed.

The Trainer huffed, glaring as he looked away. “That’s not why I’m upset,” he grumbled.

“If you talk about it, you’ll feel a lot better about it…”

Geoff fell silent, furiously staring at the ground; Ray shot Ryan a worried look and attempted to say through it, _Couldn’t you have just left him be?!_ The Breeder simply shrugged at him with an apologetic smile.

After a tense moment, the oldest let out a frustrated sigh. “Alright, listen,” he said, quietly enough that Ryan wouldn’t hear. “The thing about Griffon is that when we see each other, it’s usually only for one day since we’re both traveling all over the place. We never have _time_ to spend more than one day with each other.”

“But that’s better than nothing, though, isn’t it?” Ray responded nervously. “At least you’re seeing each other…”

“Well, yeah,” Geoff continued, “But after that, we don’t know when we’ll see each other again. For all I know, after today, we might not see each other for years. I don’t know if you know this, but that’s not exactly easy on a relationship.” He paused, turning to look curiously at the youngest. “ _Have_ you ever had a relationship?”

Ray hesitated. “Just… Just one. It was in elementary school. She asked me out, and I guess it was just as a joke. As soon as the week was over, she dumped me.” He shrugged. “I wasn’t exactly popular, so she thought it’d be funny to watch how everyone reacted to it.”

“Mew damn, dude. What a bitch.”

The youngest was silent, contemplating whether or not he agreed with him.

“Well, I guess you might not know then, but relationships are based a _lot_ on communication,” Geoff explained. “I’ve seen a lot of couples fall apart because they never talked about anything. So the less you talk, the more likely it is that you’ll end up breaking up.”

Frowning, Ray looked up at him. “But you and Griffon seemed like you were fine,” he pointed out. “Actually, it kind of seemed like you were going strong. That doesn’t-”

“Right, and that’s because when we do see each other, we talk about literally every fucking thing we can think about.”

Geoff was about to continue, but the sound of skin-to-ground contact cut him off. The Trainers heard Gavin gasp and yell “Mi-cool!” before they whipped around. The older immediately rushed over to the Ranger, and the younger was right behind him.

Gavin kneeled down next to where the Ranger had collapsed on his knees and placed a hand on his shoulder. He saw the auburn haired’s face twisted into a grimace, and his arms were wrapped tightly around his midsection. Growlithe was stood defensively next to its partner, barking worriedly at the Ranger. Biting his lip, Gavin squeezed his shoulder lightly.

“Mi-cool?”

The older swallowed thickly, opening his eyes just enough to look up towards the Pokemon Doctor.

“H-Hey, Jack?” he stammered out. “The cramps got-”

A pain filled groan broke through in the middle of his sentence, and he curled in on himself tighter. The ginger quickly made his way over and crouched in front of him.

“Is it the same kind of cramps you used to get?” he asked quickly.

“Y-Yes…!”

Michael took a couple of shallow breaths before pulling one arm away and putting his hand on the ground; his fingers dug into the dirt as he grimaced again. Jack watched, the look on his face turning from slight to extreme worry.

“Are you sure? Were they always this bad?”

The Ranger nodded slowly; he opened his mouth a bit, showing off the fact that it was trembling. Hesitating, he swallowed and opened his mouth again.

“I- I think I’m going to throw up,” he mumbled.

Jack started to stand. “Do you need help getting to the bushes?”

Michael simply held out his hand to indicate his answer; the Pokemon Doctor carefully reached down and pulled him up by his biceps instead. Immediately, the younger’s knees gave out, and Jack had to catch him. Ryan stepped over to help them make their short journey.

As soon as he got there, the Ranger began to retch. Growlithe went to sprint to its owner, but Gavin scooped it up and stood up before it could get far. It whined and tried to squirm out of his grip, but the Photographer held it tightly.

“I think you might just get in the way,” he whispered to it. “I’m sorry, Growlithe.”

Whimpering, it turned in his arms and buried its face in his shoulder. Gavin frowned and began to pet it slowly to keep it quiet.

Michael eventually fell back to the ground, curling up and letting out a shaky moan. Jack crouched next to him and gently laid a hand on his back.

“S-Sorry,” the Ranger whimpered out. “I’m usually okay with them, but these came on so quickly…”

Jack shushed him. “Hey, it’s alright,” he replied softly. “Don’t worry about it. Do you think you can walk? We can make it to Gubbin today, and we can take you to a doctor.”

Michael swallowed thickly. “Jack, I don’t know if you remember this, but-”

“I meant someone with a clinic,” he interrupted.

The younger shook his head. “I don’t need a doctor. I know what’s wrong with me. I just need medication.”

The ginger quickly began to pull of his bag. “What kind?”

“A kind that you won’t have.” Shakily, Michael began to stagger to his feet, only to collapse again with a yelp. “T-To answer your question, Jack,” he breathed, “no, I can’t walk.”

Ryan looked at him. “I’ll carry you,” he stated.

The Ranger hesitated, putting his arms around his abdomen again. “You sure? I don’t want you to get hurt…”

Rolling his eyes, the Breeder crouched and turned his back to him. “Relax. I had an accident-prone older brother, Michael. I’m used to this.”

With Jack’s help, the younger slowly made his way onto the sandy haired; he put his hands on his shoulders as he stood, and squeezed them tightly when a wave of pain rolled through him. Ryan winced in sympathy.

“Sorry,” he quickly said. “Didn’t mean to move you that much.”

Michael shook his head. “Wasn’t you.”

As soon as they were sure that Ryan had his balance and wasn’t going to drop the Ranger, Jack turned to the others.

“We need to get moving,” he ordered.

Immediately, they started down the path again, this time at a much quicker pace than before. Geoff looked at Gavin with a frown.

“You live in Gubbin, don’t you?” he asked. “How long do you think it’ll take before we get there?”

The Photographer looked down the path, squinting a little bit in order to see a little further. “I… Think we’re pretty close, actually,” he replied before pointing. “You see the tip of those smoke stacks? Those are from some of the factories. I’d say we’ll get there in a couple of hours, maybe less if we keep moving like this.”

They heard a sigh of relief come from Jack. “Oh, thank Mew; I was worried that it wouldn’t be until tonight.”

“Nahhh. Those smoke stacks aren’t _that_ tall.”

Growlithe slipped out of Gavin’s arms and onto his shoulder, resting partially on his backpack as it laid its head down on top of its paws. The Photographer reached up and pet it a little bit before focusing back on the path ahead.

 

* * *

 

 

Ray perked up suddenly, pointing ahead. “Hey, Gavin, is that the entrance to Gubbin?”

Gavin looked forward, past the bridge they were coming up on and down the next few hundred feet. “Oh, Mew, it is!” he exclaimed. “I thought that we were further off than that!”

Ryan relaxed a little bit, adjusting a still-hurting Michael and picking up the pace a little. “Thank Arceus,” he sighed.

As they began to cross the bridge, Gavin slowed to a stop, looking down into the water. He stared at it for a beat before Geoff suddenly reached back and grabbed his arm, yanking him forwards.

“Hey, dickhead, this really isn’t the time for evaluating your life,” he snapped.

Gavin laughed nervously. “Sorry, Geoffrey. Just… Thinking about something.”

“Well, think about it later! We gotta fucking go!”

Growlithe leapt off of the Photographer’s shoulder as he nodded. “Right.” With that, the two hurried to catch up with the others.

 

* * *

 

 

As soon as they made it into the Pokemon Center, Ryan was racing towards the counter. “Nurse Joy?” he called.

The woman poked her head into the lobby, frowning immediately once she saw the auburn haired on his back. Quickly, she rushed over, reaching out to help. “What happened?”

“We don’t know,” the Breeder explained, “he just started having horrible cramps this afternoon. He says that he just needs medication, but I’m not sure if-”

“That’s it,” Michael croaked out. “Just some meds.”

Slowly, the Ranger began to crawl off of Ryan’s back; as soon as he put weight on his legs, they gave out. Nurse Joy grabbed him before he hit the floor, and Ryan whipped around to help him stand.

“I’m okay, I’m okay,” he rasped out.

Nurse Joy frowned, looking him in the face. “It certainly doesn’t look like it,” she pointed out. “What medication do you need? I’ll let you lie down in the back until it kicks in, if you’d like.”

Michael gave the Breeder a hesitant look; tentatively, he leaned over and whispered a long statement into Nurse Joy’s ear. The look on her face became more and more concerned until he pulled away and looked at her nervously.

Quickly, she threw one of his arms around her and looked at Ryan. “I need you to help me get him into the back, and then I’m going to have to ask you to come back out here,” she commanded.

“Uh… Alright, sure.”

Within minutes, Ryan was back with the others, who had been standing by the doors since they’d first made it inside. They all ran forward with questions, but he held up a hand to keep them quiet.

“Listen, I don’t know anything about what’s happening,” he informed. “He told Nurse Joy what was going on, and then they both refused to tell me anything. All that I know is that she’s giving him some stuff right now to help with it.”

Everyone else began to relax, but Geoff stayed tense. “So… he’s going to be alright then, right?” he asked worriedly.

Ryan shrugged. “I mean… I would assume so.”

As soon as the words were out of his mouth, the older Trainer let his shoulders fall in relief. “Thank fucking Arceus…” He went to sit on one of the benches nearby, and most of the others followed suit; the only one left standing was Ray, who had huddled up by himself into the wall.

Gavin frowned, being the first to see the youngest. “X-Ray, are you alright?”

The younger Trainer’s head snapped up, and his mouth opened and shut for a moment. “I- I…” He swallowed. “I’m gonna go… U-Uh, just…” He pointed his thumb towards the door, making sure everyone saw, before turning and starting to rush towards it. “I- I’ll be back.”

Once the door shut, Gavin let out a sigh. “Another anxiety attack?” he mumbled. “That’s like, the third one this week…”

Geoff frowned, looking at the floor. “Guess he must be pretty stressed out.”

“Geoff, let’s be honest here,” Jack laughed crudely, “who isn’t right now?”

The others were silent, knowing exactly what the answer was.

 

* * *

 

 

Ray walked quietly, and with his head down, trying to stay as small as possible.

The streets were full of unfamiliar people, most of them taking no note of him, but others recognizing him from when they’d come through before with Michael. He could practically feel their stares on him, and he could tell that some were judgmental and others were concern. While he appreciated it, he just wanted them _off_.

Every once in a while, he’d glance up to check where he was going; he figured he had at least a decent idea until it suddenly hit him that he’d taken a wrong turn somewhere, and was now completely and utterly lost.

Biting his lip, Ray felt panic begin to course through him, and every awful thought he could imagine started to rush through his mind. He pressed it down and turned his gaze back to the ground. Without looking, the Trainer started to cross the street.

“Kid-!”

A gasp quickly shot through him as a hand grabbed his hood and yanked him back; he was about to pull out his Pokemon to fight when a car flew by just inches from where he stood now, blaring it horn. He stood in shock for a moment before the same hand moved from his hood to his shoulder and turned him around.

“Are you alright? That was- bloody hell, that was really close!” the man exclaimed.

Ray stared at him, mouth open to answer. “I- I…”

The other ran a hand through his own dark hair, shaking his head. “You seem nervous, yeah? I don’t blame you. That must’ve been bloody terrifying. Are you hurt? Do you need to go to the Pokemon Center or somethin’?”

The Trainer quickly shook his head. “I- N-No,” he quietly stammered out. “But, uh… D-Do you know where the entrance to Route 16 is?”

“Course I do,” the man replied. “C’mon, I’ll take you there, if you want.”

Ray hesitated, but eventually nodded. “Thank you.”

 

* * *

 

 

Jack kept his stare on the door behind the counter. “How much longer do you think it’ll be?” he asked softly.

Ryan glanced at the Pokemon Doctor before returning his gaze towards the ceiling. “I don’t know. Your guess if probably better than mine is. Don’t you have experience in this kind of stuff?”

“It would help if I knew what was going on.”

The Breeder hummed in understanding.

From his place on the floor, Gavin carefully set one block next to another and looked at Geoff. “Hey… Hey, Geoff.”

The Trainer looked down. “What’s up, buddy?”

The Photographer pointed. “I made a fart.”

“What are you talking-”

After the younger had shifted out of the way, Geoff began to laugh loudly. There, in variously colored blocks, the word “fart” was spelled out on the floor.

“You fucking idiot,” he cackled.

Grinning, Gavin pulled out his camera and snapped a photo. “If we get the chance to get to my house, I’m absoutely going to print this out for you,” he informed.

Geoff rolled his eyes. “Thanks, Gavvers. I’ll be sure to cherish it forever.”

“Aw, Geoffrey~!”

There was a beat of silence between the group; Geoff let his focus fall away from the crude blocks and back onto the Lad in the back.

Whatever was wrong with him seemed pretty bad, as far as he could tell. He wracked his memory for any instance where he’d told them about anything like this, but so far, he couldn’t think of anything. Were there any obvious signs that this was coming? He thought back to the day before. Michael had gone to bed earlier than usual, but he’d mentioned not getting a lot of sleep the previous night. Was he maybe lieing?

Plus, he hadn’t eaten anything for lunch. Was not eating the thing that caused it, or would that have made it worse? Was not eating the only thing that kept him alive? Would eating have prevented it?

Before Geoff could get his thoughts under control, Growlithe slipped down from the bench and started trotting over to the door behind the counter. The oldest sighed and got up.

“I’ll get it,” he declared.

As soon as he got behind the counter, he saw the Fire Type pawing at the door and whimpering. He let out a deep breath and picked it up.

“Hey, it’s alright,” he whispered. “He’s gonna be fine.”

“It can’t be _that_ big of a deal, can it? I mean, I’ve only missed, like, three doses!”

“Three doses are a _lot_ to miss!”

Swallowing back a groan, the Trainer leaned his head against the wall. A small wave of relief washed through him- obviously, if Michael was arguing with Nurse Joy, he was feeling a lot better –before that relief was replaced with embarrassment. Of _course_ Michael would immediately start arguing as soon as he felt better.

“What’s so bad? What’s the worst that could happen if I miss them? I mean, let’s be honest here! I think my body’s got enough of it still in it to keep me alright for a while!” he heard Michael shoot.

“Are you kidding me?! ‘What’s so bad’?! You have no idea what will happen, do you?!” Nurse Joy snapped.

“Like I said, what’s the worst that could happen? Please, enlighten me! I’d fucking love to know!”

“You want to keep this a secret, don’t you? If you’d missed any more doses, it would have started to become extremely obvious, if you get what I mean!”

“…Oh.”

“Yeah, ‘oh’. Do you get it now? Why you always need to have more on you than you think you’ll need when you’re traveling like this?”

There was a beat of silence. “How do you know all of this?”

Geoff heard Nurse Joy sigh. “Because I’m the same as you.”

“You’re… what? Which way?”

“The opposite than you are. I know what I’m talking about, Michael, and I know what it would be like if your friends found out like this. I made the same mistake that you almost did, and trust me, you _don’t_ want that to happen.”

Growlithe pawed at Geoff’s shoulder, snapping him out of the trance he’d fallen into when listening. It whimpered at him, and he turned and walked back to the others. Gavin was stuffing the blocks back into his bag, and he waved to Geoff when he saw him.

“Hey, I’m going to go see if I can find Ray,” he stated. “I’m worried that he might have gotten lost. You wanna come along?”

The oldest shook his head. “I need to talk to the Gents for a minute. You won’t get lost, too, will you?”

Gavin rolled his eyes. “I grew up in this city, Geoffrey,” he laughed. “I think I’m fine.”

With that, Gavin turned and walked out of the building. Geoff pulled Growlithe in a little bit tighter as he sat on the other side of Ryan and turned to the younger two.

“Okay, so I know I shouldn’t have been listening, but I heard Michael and Nurse Joy talking about something that I think you guys should hear. Don’t tell the other Lads, though, okay? I think they’re already nervous enough about this.”

 

* * *

 

 

“Here we are!” the man exclaimed, gesturing to the sign in front of them.

Ray grinned at him. “Thank you so much, again. I really appreciate it!”

The other frowned. “Are you sure you’ll be fine on your own? You still seem a little shaken up from before…”

“I’m alright,” he said. “I always shake, to be honest. I’ll be okay.”

Pulling himself up into a straighter pose, the man smiled at him. “Well, okay, if you’re sure. Take care, alright?”

“I will! Thanks again!”

Ray turned around, intending to head through the entrance gate with a calm feeling coursing through him. It had been so long since a stranger had been that kind to him… Well, since a stranger had been kind to him and he hadn’t been sent into an anxiety attack soon afterwards, at least. There was just something about that guy that had been so… relaxing. Like he was an old friend or something. Maybe he’d be able to remember him and see him again someday.

Gasping, Ray whipped around. “Hey, wait, I never got your-!”

The empty street behind him loomed silently; the Trainer let his arm fall.

“Your name…”

Letting out a sigh, the dark haired turned and walked through the gate. _So much for that_ , he thought to himself.

As soon as he had made it to the other side of the gate, Ray made his way to the bridge, leaning on the edge of it and letting the rush of the water lull him into his thoughts.

Of course, he was extremely worried about Michael- worried enough that he’d already had an anxiety attack, so he figured that he should keep that topic out of his mind until he went back to the Pokemon Center later. Instead, he decided to follow what Ryan told him to do, and he began to attempt a plan for the gym, completely spacing out for the time being.

He was so focused on planning it out, that all senses of time escaped him. He eventually pulled back into reality and let his eyes go up the river until they fell on a waterfall upstream. A frown etched onto his face, and he squinted. There was something awfully familiar about that waterfall…

“There you are!”

Ray gasped and whipped around, the speed of his turn throwing off his balance and causing him to topple onto the bridge. His hand flew to his side, prepared to defend himself if needed, but familiar laughter filled his ears, allowing him to relax.

Gavin leaned onto the railing, giggling down at the youngest and offering his hand. “You good?”

Rolling his eyes, Ray took hold and pulled himself up. “You scared the shit out of me, you asshole!” he laughed. “What the fuck were you doing?”

“Me? What were _you_ doing? You were just staring into space! I only walked over here!”

Crossing his arms, the Trainer leaned onto the railing next to Gavin. “I was actually being responsible and focusing on my gym battle,” he explained.

“What gym battle?” Gavin asked, raising an eyebrow.

Ray stared at him for a beat. “The one that Geoff and I are probably going to have later this week? Come on, man, you live here! You know that there’s a gym here!”

“Oh!” The Photographer started laughing. “I thought- I thought you meant that you were having a gym battle right now!”

“What? No, man! What the fuck?”

The two stood and laughed at each other for a moment; after they’d calmed down, Gavin casually pointed to the waterfall.

“You see that?”

Ray put his hands on the railing and stood up straighter. “Yeah, and I know I’ve seen it somewhere before. I just can’t fucking figure it out!”

With a grin, Gavin reached over and pulled his camera out. After flipping through a lot of photos, he held out the camera to view side by side with the waterfall. Ray gasped in realization.

_“Are you okay…?”_

_The photographer took a deep breath and shut his eyes, trying to block the sudden wave of pain in the back of his skull. “Yeah, just my bloody head. I must have hit it off of something… Oh!”_

_“What?”_

_He opened his eyes and stared at the ground. “I just remembered what happened, is all. I was trying to get a picture of a Starmie when I fell into the river, and I hit my head off of a rock.”_

_When he looked back at Ray, he saw a strange beam of hope in his eyes. He cocked his head to the side in confusion._

_“What’ve you got that look for?”_

_“D-Did you, by chance, get the picture of the Starmie?” Ray asked. With a raised eyebrow, Gavin nodded._

_“I did… Why?”_

_“Uh, well, if it’s okay with you, whenever you can or you’d want, could I maybe see it? I mean, y-you don’t have to, I was just…” He ended his ramble by trailing off, trying to think of the right words._

_Gavin laughed a little and sat down, patting the spot next to him and turning the camera on. “Of course! You don’t have to be so shy about it, just ask! I love showing off my pictures!”_

_He couldn’t help but feel his heart swell up at the way Ray’s face lit up and how quickly he joined him._

_“See, look,” he said, holding the camera in a way they could both see it. The latest picture he’d taken was on the screen. “That’s the photo I took that sent me down the river. It’s a good thing I brought my water proof camera, yeah?”_

_Ray smiled and nodded before looking back at the camera; his eyes still had that shine in them. “That’s a really great picture,” he said quietly._

Mouth wide open, Ray pointed between the camera and the waterfall. “You- this is- oh my Mew!”

“Yeah!” Gavin laughed.

“So this is where you fell in?!”

“It is!”

“Fucking Arceus! I should’ve known that!”

Giggling, the Photographer replaced his camera and gave the younger a light shove. “Nah, it’s alright, X-Ray. You only saw the picture once!”

Ray nodded, relaxing a little. “I guess that’s true,” he sighed. “Hey, so you know where the gym is, right?”

“Of course I do. Why? You wanna go there?”

“Nah. I was just wondering,” he replied. “Do you think that Geoff’s going to want to go straight there as soon as Michael’s better?”

Gavin’s shoulders visibly fell; the smile disappeared off of his face. “…Maybe.” He was silent for a moment. “Do you think Mi-cool’s even going to get better?”

Ray let his gaze fall back to the rushing river. “I hope he does…”

There was a moment of quietness between the two, each worrying about the third Lad and what was happening with him. For a minute, both only had thoughts of pure terror running through their heads, to which Gavin broke when he turned to the youngest and stood up straight.

“We should probably go back,” he mumbled. “See if there’s been any updates. Maybe he’s gotten better since we left?”

Ray gave a weak smile. “Maybe. Come on, let’s go.”

The two walked off of the bridge and began the tense journey back to the Pokemon Center in silence.

 

* * *

 

 

The doors shut quietly behind them, and they still weren’t talking, rendering the two completely unnoticeable as they walked towards where the Gents sat. Because they were facing the door, Jack and Ryan saw them, but Geoff had his back to them and continued to talk. The closer Ray and Gavin got, the more they could hear of the conversation.

“…I just don’t understand why he wouldn’t tell us anything like this,” Geoff sighed. “I mean, if it wasn’t a big deal and just never came up, that’d be one thing. But from what I heard, it almost sounded life threatening if he didn’t have medication for it! That’s something that we’d need to know!”

“What is?” Gavin interrupted.

Geoff whipped around, eyes wide and mouth open. “I- Uh-”

“Did something happen when we were out?” Ray asked worriedly.

Since the oldest was speechless with both anger at himself and surprise over the fact that the Lads had come out of seemingly nowhere, Jack spoke up instead. “Not… exactly.”

“Geoff just overheard something that Michael and Nurse Joy were saying,” Ryan added. “I’m sure it’s nothing to worry about. Just him overreacting, right?”

The older Trainer snapped out of it and nodded. “Yeah… Uh, I probably misheard some things, too.”

Gavin raised an eyebrow. “But you said that it sounded life threatening,” he pointed out.

“Right, and that’s where the mishearing part comes in, asshole,” Geoff snapped. “Ryan’s right; there’s probably nothing to be worrying about. All we can do is wait and see what happens.”

The Gents nodded in agreement; the Lads glanced at each other, unconvinced. It took Growlithe pawing at Gavin’s leg for the Photographer to sigh and look at Ray.

“He’s got a point,” he mumbled. “You wanna play with some blocks?”

The youngest hesitated. “I actually think I’d rather work on my plan for the gym,” he replied.

Ryan perked up. “Oh, have you been working on that?”

“Only a little bit,” Ray said tentatively. “It’s not really that good yet. I’ve only got the basic idea for it.”

“Well, that’s better than nothing!” Ryan cheered. “If you tell me what you’ve got so far, I’ll tell you about the day that I found Exor.”

Grinning, Ray nodded; Jack and Ryan switched spots, and the younger Trainer sat next to the Breeder, launching into the not- yet details of his plan. The others sat in silence, turning their thoughts elsewhere as they waited for any updates.

After a while, the back door finally opened, and Growlithe sprinted over. The other five got to their feet immediately, sighs of relief coursing through all of them when they saw the Ranger walk out with Nurse Joy. Gavin ran over and tackled him into a hug.

“Mi-cool, my boi!” he yelled. “You’re okay!”

The auburn haired snorted, hugging the younger back. “Yeah, Gav,” he laughed, “I’m fine.”

Ray ran up next to them. “Are you better? Is everything okay now?”

Michael smiled at him over Gavin’s shoulder. “Yeah, bud. I’m good now. Just had a little tummy ache, is all!” he exclaimed with a smile.

Gavin suddenly pulled away long enough to throw an arm around Ray’s shoulders and bring him into the embrace. “LAD GROUP HUG!” he shouted.

Jack snuck over to pull the camera out of Gavin’s little side bag and snapped a picture before making his way over to Nurse Joy with the other Gents. She gave him a smile before beginning.

“Everything’s fine with him, just some… Issues that we’ve worked out,” she explained. “I’ve given him two different kinds of medication: one that’s a refill of the kind he _should_ have been taking, and one for that he needs to take for the next few days. The cramps are going to last a few more days, but the medication should keep it at least bearable.”

She handed Ryan the white bag. Jack glanced at it, seeing that the name of one was crossed out. Frowning, he glanced at her.

“Why’s that one crossed out?”

She hesitated. “Mr. Jones has made it quite clear to me that he would like to keep his condition private for now. The name of that prescription would give it away pretty easily, so I figured he would prefer for me to make it so you couldn’t read it.”

Jack and Ryan both frowned; Geoff gave them a pointed look before asking, “How often should he be taking these?”

“The pain medication should be taken twice a day- once in the morning, and once in the evening. The cramps might still hurt, but he shouldn’t have any ibuprofen or anything until after he’s off of it. The other one can be taken once every two weeks with a full dose, or a half dose every other week. He didn’t tell me how he usually does it, but I assume it’s one of the two.”

The Gents nodded, thanking Nurse Joy for all of her help before turning and walking over to the Lads. Grinning, Gavin rushed over to meet them and grabbed his camera back from Jack.

“We can go to my house tonight, guys!” he exclaimed. “You can _finally_ meet my brother, and tomorrow we can go hang out with Dan before your guys’ gym battles!”

The others looked at each other, shrugging. “I don’t see why not,” Geoff said.

Punching the air, Gavin grabbed onto Michael’s arm and started racing towards the door. Growlithe leapt onto its owner’s shoulder before they got too far.

“Then let’s go already! I can’t wait to see them again!”

Rolling their eyes, the other four hurried after the Photographer and Ranger, practically feeling the energy buzzing through them as the journey continued.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the read! Hope you enjoyed!!
> 
> I... Honestly don't really have anything to say about this chapter. So... Yeah.
> 
> 100,000 words!! YAY!! And, assuming that we're going to break 100 kudos, YAY TO THAT, TOO!! Thank you guys so much!!!
> 
> [Comfort Michael Button]  
> [Comfort Ray Button]


	26. Gubbin City! Explore the Town!!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gavin takes the time to show everyone around the town he grew up in, and introduces them to some of his best friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beacon Region Map: http://sweetiecurfyart.tumblr.com/post/111232399174/here-it-is-a-map-of-the-beacon-region-used
> 
> Art will be posted: sweetiecurfyart.tumblr.com  
> Follow me on Twitter under @Sweetie_Curfy  
> Support me on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/sweetiecurfy?ty=h

After the Achievement Hunters had arrived at the Free household, the night had passed without incident. They had all gone to bed in the rooms that Gavin had told them to, and in the morning, after almost everyone was up, they began to congregate into the dining room.

Gavin let out a groan, dropping his head on the table. “I still can’t believe no one’s here…,” he moaned. “I mean, I’m not surprised that my parents are gone. They’re out all the time, going to other regions for gym battles or movies. But my brother’s usually here at least! He _never_ leaves. He loves Gubbin too much… Or at least, I thought he did…”

Setting a mug of tea in front of where his head lay, Ryan sat down next to the Photographer. “Well, do you know where he might have gone? Did he maybe mention going somewhere before you left?”

“No…”

The straw haired sat up and scooped up the mug before taking a long sip. Michael watched him from across the table.

“Did he say anything about other cities at all before you left?” he asked. “Maybe we can figure out where he is now, or you can at least call him.”

Gavin hummed and swallowed. “Maybe,” he sighed. He was quiet for a beat before grinning. “Maybe Dan will be here still! You guys can at least meet him!”

“Yeah, after Ray and I have our gym battles!” Geoff called in, poking his head into the room. “Or maybe he can come with us. I wouldn’t mind having another person to witness me kicking the guy’s ass into his brain.”

The Photographer laughed and opened his mouth to reply, but was cut off when Ray sprinted into the room. Everyone stared at him for a moment, waiting for him to catch his breath.

“You alright, X-Ray?” Gavin asked. “Was there something in your room? Ah, bloody hell, George isn’t gonna like that…!”

“N-No, sorry,” Ray panted. “I j-just kinda had a, uh… I kinda had a nightmare last night again.”

Ryan frowned. “Another one?”

The youngest nodded, the concerned stares pulling his gaze down and reddening his face. “S-Sorry. I kind of panicked when I woke up. Sorry if I freaked anyone out.”

“No way, dude, you’re fine!” Michael quickly reassured. “Here, sit next to me. Seat’s open anyways.”

Giving a weak smile, Ray hurried over to the chair and sat down anxiously. Sensing this, Growlithe leapt into his lap while Michael placed a hand on his shoulder, gently rubbing circles into it. With each rotation, Ray felt his muscles very slowly starting to relax, and his nerves gradually fell away.

Geoff walked in with his mug of coffee finally, and as soon as he spotted the single, open chair at the end of the table, he quickly swallowed his mouthful and yelled, “Dibs!”

Ray flinched as soon as the word rang out through the room. Raising an eyebrow, Jack began to laugh.

“On what? The chair?”

The older Trainer slid into his chosen place with a grin. “Yup! The International Dibs Protocol applies to everything, even chairs.”

“The what?” Michael replied.

“Do you guys not know the International Dibs Protocol?” Geoff squeaked.

Everyone else exchanged glances and head shakes; the oldest sighed and let his posture drop.

“I can’t fucking believe it! I thought that shit was everywhere!”

“Well, fucking explain it, then!” Ryan exclaimed.

“You know, it’s Dibs!”

“And you say _I_ make up words,” Gavin laughed.

“You fucking do, you dickhead!” Geoff let out a groan. “The International Dibs Protocol is when you call dibs on something, therefore claiming it as your own.”

The others were silent for a beat, waiting for him to continue. When it was clear that that wasn’t going to happen, Jack asked, “That’s it?”

“Yes, that’s it! It’s not that fucking hard!”

Michael snorted, pulling his hand away from Ray. “Sounds like something you’d do in elementary school.”

Crossing his arms, Geoff leaned back and pouted. “It is not.”

“I didn’t say it was, I was just saying that it sounded like that.”

There was a moment of tense quiet, before Jack suddenly stood up. “Right, I think it’s time we eat something for breakfast,” he suggested. “Gavin, do you know if there’s anything here we can have?”

Gavin hummed before looking towards the kitchen. “You can look around, if you’d like. I don’t think anyone would care.” He moaned, dropping his head back down. “Especially since no one’s here to stop you…”

As the Pokemon Doctor made his way out, Ryan reached over, putting his hand on the younger’s back.

Michael turned towards Ray, a look of concern formed on his face. “What was your nightmare about?” he asked. “Do you want to talk about it?”

The youngest hesitated, shifting in his seat a bit as he brought his hands up to pet Growlithe. He swallowed thickly, trying to keep the memory out of his head, but despite his efforts, it still managed to bleed into his conscious mind.

_Geoff reached forward and shoved him. “Why don’t you just fucking go home already? No one likes you anyways! Just get the fuck out of here!”_

_Ray stumbled back, but caught his balance after a moment. On shaky legs, he looked up at the older Trainer. “B-But I thought you said…”_

_“I was lying!” Geoff snapped. “How fucking hard is it for you to realize that?! What makes you think that anyone likes you? We’re all just waiting for you to turn around and go back to Nucom, and the second you do, we’re going to have the biggest fucking celebration ever because you’ll finally be gone, and we won’t have to worry about your fucked up anxiety disorder anymore!”_

_He pushed Ray again, this time knocking him to the ground. The youngest slammed into his knee, causing him to yelp in pain._

_“Geoff…!”_

_“You’re just a fucking weak ass excuse for a Trainer! Like anyone’s ever going to remember you! You’re just a huge ass piece of shit!”_

“Ray? You okay?”

The younger Trainer snapped back into reality, jerking his head up to see everyone at the table staring him down worriedly. He swallowed again, forcing frightened tears back and looking away.

“I- I’m fine,” he whispered. “I don’t want to talk about it. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it, dude,” Michael said softly. “You don’t have to unless you want to.”

Gavin sat up straighter in his seat, giving everyone a grin. “So where do you guys want to go?” he asked. “I’m willing to go anywhere, really!”

“Hey idiot, I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but none of us have ever been here before,” Geoff pointed out. “We don’t know anything about this place.”

“I assume Geoff would want to go to the gym,” Michael pointed out.

Humming, the Photographer looked at the ceiling in thought. “I think we should go there last, actually,” he informed. “I get the feeling that you’re not going to want to do much after seeing that.”

“He’s got a point,” Geoff stated.

The Pokemon Ranger rolled his eyes. “Well, then, fuck if I know where to go, Gav.”

Jack walked in with a plate of muffins, and Gavin turned to him in a second.

“Where do you want to go?” he inquired.

The ginger stopped, raising an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”

“Exactly what I’m asking! What do you want to see in Gubbin City?”

Once he’d set down the plate in the middle of the table, Jack pondered the question. “Uh… isn’t there some kind of pottery factory or something around here? Would you guys want to go there?”

The others shrugged in indifference; Gavin made a face, hesitating.

“Ehhhh… It’s not really that exciting, to be honest,” he informed. “All that’s there is a bunch of dudes spinning clay around and sticking it in a fire. It’s bloody hot in there, too. Not exactly the most pleasant first look at Gubbin.”

“So what? We’re here for the gym, not the sights!” Geoff reminded.

“No, _you’re_ here for the gym,” Ryan added. “The rest of us want to see at least some shit around here, right?”

As the rest of the Achievement Hunters nodded, the oldest huffed and leaned back in his chair.

“Mew damn, whatever.”

Rolling his eyes, Michael looked at the Photographer. “You know what? Gavin, you grew up here. You’re the one who knows what’s good and what’s not. Why don’t you just show us around?”

Gavin pondered this for a minute before a grin spread across his face. “Oh my Mew, yeah! That’s a great idea!”

He leapt out of his chair and started running towards the door; Ryan pointed to the muffins and called after him, “Hey, wait, what about breakfast?”

“Dibs on this one!”

“ _Geoff_.”

“Hurry up, you plebs! I wanna get started! Just grab a muffin and go!”

The straw haired ripped the door open and flew out of sight; before anyone else could move, there was the sound of him colliding with someone, and two similar groans came after the _thud_ of bodies hitting the ground. Quickly, Jack and Geoff sprinted to the door to see what had happened.

Sprawled out on the ground next to Gavin, another boy with much messier straw colored hair was rubbing the back of his head. He sat up, moaning softly and staring at the porch.

“Ah, Gavin, you bloody idiot!” snapped the victim. He went to glare at the Photographer, but he ended up doing a double take as his eyes widened. “ _Gavin_!”

He launched himself forwards and wrapped him in a tight hug; Gavin grinned and returned it.

“You _are_ home!”

“You’re bloody alive! Where the hell were you?!”

Gavin pulled away, practically bouncing from where he sat. “You’re not going to believe any of it!” he exclaimed. “Mew, it’s gonna take a hell of a long time to explain it all, though.”

The other let a weak, relieved smile fade onto his face again. “Bloody hell, I don’t even care,” he sighed, pulling Gavin back into another embrace. “I’m just glad you’re okay…!”

By that time, the rest of the Achievement Hunters had gathered by the door to see what the commotion was about. Michael raised an eyebrow, looking at Gavin as soon as they’d pulled apart.

“Whoa, Gav, did you, like, not tell anyone that you were leaving?” he asked. “What the fuck?”

The Photographer shook his head. “I never actually meant to leave, really. It just sort of… happened, I guess.” He then stood up, helping the person next to him to his feet, and threw an arm around him. “By the way, guys, this is my younger brother, George! George, these are my new friends, Geoff, Ryan, Michael, Ray, and Jack!”

George frowned and opened his mouth to say something, but was cut off when Ryan threw up his arms.

“So you never even tried to contact anyone to tell them you were alive?!” he yelled. “You fucking idiot!”

“What?! Aw, Ryan, what’s so bad about that?!”

“U-Uh, Gavin?” Ray piped up, pointing to the younger Free. “Is he…?”

The Photographer turned his gaze towards the boy in question; his eyes were fluttering open and shut, and he was swaying in his spot. Letting out a gasp, Gavin shot out his arms and grabbed his shoulders, causing the younger’s eyes to shoot open and dart to his brother.

He gave a sympathetic smile. “Long shift?”

George lifted his hand and rubbed his eyes, getting himself on-balance again. “Seven last night until eight this morning,” he mumbled. “Night shifts are the worst.”

Laughing softly, Gavin pulled George’s arm around his shoulder and started to walk into the house, pushing the others out of the way. “Come on, then. Let’s get you to bed. We’ll be out of the house for the day, so you can get your rest, alright?”

“I’m not a bloody kid anymore, Gavin. Arceus.”

The two turned a corner, and their voices faded off into the halls. After a beat of confused silence, Jack looked at the others.

“He seems nice.”

Gavin came back then with a grin on his face and a slight strut in his step. “Well, come on, then!” he laughed. “Gubbin’s not gonna wait for us all day!”

Grabbing Jack and Ray by the arm, he in turn dragged everyone out of the door and down the steps, launching into a ramble about the things this city had to offer.

 

* * *

 

 

The Achievement Hunters rounded a street corner a while later, and the Photographer immediately let them go as he sprinted down the sidewalk. He stopped and turned when he realized no one was following, yelling out, “Bloody hell, guys, you’re so slow! This is the street with that bakery I was telling you about!”

“Gavin, we’re coming,” Ryan groaned. “Just because we’re not running a fucking marathon doesn’t mean we won’t get there.”

The younger frowned and crossed his arms; a hopeful look spread across his face soon after, and he sprinted towards the group to grab Michael’s wrist.

“Mi-cool, boi, come on!” he exclaimed. “At least _you_ seem slightly interested in it all!”

He then ran off, dragging the Ranger and his groans of protest with him. They made it into the building in mere seconds, causing the others to sigh and hurry to meet them. As soon as they opened the door, they were met with the sight of Gavin embraced in a bone-crushing hug from an older woman with purple hair. Michael was stood off to the side, laughing softly.

“Oh, Mew, Gavin, don’t ever do that again!” she begged. “You scared the living hell out of everyone!”

Gavin laughed nervously. “Hi, Miss Audra. Sorry about that. Can you let go? I can’t breathe…”

Apologizing, she released him and laid eyes on the auburn haired standing nearby. “Oh, is this your boyfriend?” she asked suddenly. “How sweet! You know this bakery’s the perfect place for a date! And his Growlithe is absolutely _adorable_! Although, I have to ask, what happened to Meg?”

Both Gavin and Michael started letting out shouts of protest as their faces flushed.

“Wha- N-No! We’re not…!”

“Gross! Gavin and I aren’t together!”

Laughter from the door drew the attention of the three, and they watched as the Gents fell to the ground in laughter. Even Ray was leaning against the wall, shaking. The two remaining Achievement Hunters glared dangerously at them.

“Shut the fuck up, you guys!” Michael snapped.

“Yeah, come on, it was an honest mistake! Miss Audra does this all the time!”

The woman chuckled. “He’s right,” she pointed out. “I thought he and my daughter had crushes on each other until she shoved him into the pond a few years ago.”

Gavin froze, laughing nervously. “L-Let’s not bring too much up…!”

“Oh, speaking of Hilda, she’s working at the garden today!” The woman smiled at the Photographer as she walked behind the counter. “She’s been worried sick about you since you disappeared. You should go see her and let her know you’re okay!”

“I’ll get right on that,” Gavin said. “Maybe we’ll go there next. But first, I need to show my friends just how bloody amazing this place is!”

Miss Audra looked at the others as they calmed down. “Your friends? Where did you meet them?”

“Oh, right! No one here knows the story!”

“Of course not, idiot,” Geoff called over. “You fucking disappeared without a trace and didn’t bother telling anyone where you went!”

Ignoring him, Gavin casually leaned on the counter. “The reason that I disappeared is because I was trying to get a picture of those Staryu and Starmie outside of town,” he explained.

Her eyes widened. “What? Gavin, how many times has everyone told you not to do that?!”

The straw haired winced. “…Too many?”

“And yet you did it anyways?”

“We’ve learned pretty quickly that he doesn’t listen,” Michael laughed. “Don’t hold your breath that he won’t do it again.”

The Photographer waved him off. “Anyways, I got the picture, but I fell in immediately after-”

Miss Audra crossed her arms. “Like we told you time and time again would happen!”

“-But I didn’t die, because Ray fished me out!”

He pointed to the youngest, who shyly waved and muttered, “Hi.”

“And he was kind enough to let me tag along with him on his journey! So then we got attacked by these bastards called Team Freelancer, but we kicked their arses and got the hell out of there.”

“I wouldn’t say we kicked their asses, Vav,” Ray cut in. “More like we just hauled ass.”

“I’m trying to make it sound better than it actually was, alright, X-Ray?” He turned back to the woman. “So after that, Ryan saved Ray from burning his damn face off and joined us, and then Mi-cool saved him from an Ursaring!”

“Yeah, that _you_ pissed off!”

“And then we made it to Salubrity Town, just in time for Team Freelancer to attack _again_. Mi-cool got hurt, and Ray was almost killed, but then we met Jack and he saved our arses! We had to do some convincing for his parents to let him go, but that didn’t take too long. Then when we finally got back on the road, we met Geoff and he kicked Ray’s arse in a battle!”

“Of course I did; the kid was probably having an anxiety attack right there!”

“Then we finally made it to Entity City, and Geoff and Ray beat the gym there, so now they’ve each got the Epsilon Badge! Actually, it was the same day that Ray won his that Ryan and Jack were attacked by Team Freelancer again when they were at the store… Anyway, we came back here so that those two could challenge the gym here, and here we are!”

Miss Audra blinked. “That… sounds like quite the adventure,” she remarked.

“Bloody hell, it was! I’m sure we’re gonna have a hell of a lot more after this, too!” Gavin exclaimed.

She frowned, but pushed herself off of the counter regardless. “Well, I’m sure that much has left you all starving,” she stated. “What would you all like?”

 

* * *

 

 

“Bye, Miss Audra! Thanks for everything!”

Racing out of the bakery with a bag in his hand, Gavin pointed down the street. “The garden’s this way!” he beamed. “Come on; you guys are gonna _love_ Hilda! She’s super cool, and really bloody smart! And you know what? I’ll bet she’s with Rusty!”

He sprinted down the sidewalk again, and the others groaned. Ray and Growlithe took off to catch up with him, but the rest of the Achievement Hunters simply walked after them.

Once the Trainer and Fire Type had caught up, Gavin grinned at him. They turned a corner and slowed to a stop in front of a moderately sized building. Ray cocked his head to the side in confusion.

“Is this the garden…?”

“What? No!” Gavin started to laugh. “Arceus, no! This is where I went to school!”

Ray made an “Oh” sound, looking at all of the windows lining the walls. “It’s kind of… small,” he mumbled.

“Yeah. There’s not really a lot of kids in Gubbin, actually. Hilda, Dan and I had at least five out of nine classes together every year, as far as I can remember.” He lifted a finger towards one of the windows on the second floor. “I once threw a gallon of water on Dan from up there! Our science teacher was pretty cool with everything, so he helped out with dumping in on him when he came to school late. He used to do that _all_ the damn time.”

“What, come in late?”

“Yeah.” The older sighed. “It’s little things like that that make me wonder how he even got his job now.”

Ray looked at him. “What does he do now?”

Before Gavin could reply, the rest of the Achievement Hunters caught up, and Michael smacked the Photographer on the back of the head.

“Ow! Bloody Arceus!”

“Don’t fucking run off like that, idiot!”

He whined, rubbing the sore spot. “Well, damn. Sorry that I’m excited about being home.”

“That’s not what we’re upset about,” Jack cut in. “We just want you to slow down a bit. Or a lot. Everyone wants to make sure we don’t lose track of you.”

“I don’t.”

“Okay, everyone but Geoff wants to make sure we don’t lose track of you.”

Gavin pouted, but regardlessly nodded anyways. “Alright. I’ll stop lunging around everywhere, I guess.”

Michael cringed. “Oh, Mew, Gavin, please don’t be lunging at _all_.”

Rolling his eyes, the Gubbin City native turned and started down the street. “Let’s get to the gardens, then. I don’t want to spend all day looking at the school. I already spent _more_ than enough time doing that when I was a kid.”

They only had to walk a few more blocks before a large glass building came into view. Vibrating with all the energy of an artist on their first visit to an art store, Gavin pointed at the structure and grinned.

“There it is! The Ozpin Gardens! Mew damn, I haven’t been here in forever!” he cheered. “I used to come here every damn day and take a million pictures!”

“I can see why,” Michael said. “It doesn’t seem like there’s much in this city to take pictures of.”

The younger sighed. “Yeah… Yeah.”

They pushed open the doors with Gavin leading the way, immediately coming into sight of hundreds of breeds of trees and flowers and other plants. To the left of them was a large pond filled with various types of Water Type Pokemon and had woodland Pokemon around it. Ray stepped towards it, eyeing it contently.

“That’s really fucking pretty,” he said. “How long has this been here?”

Gavin hummed, going the slightest bit pale at the sight of it. “Uh… As long as I can remember, at least.”

“This place would have opened a couple of years before you were born, Ray,” Ryan suddenly informed. “I did some research on this town last night, and this was one of the first things that came up.”

Geoff suddenly perked up. “I think I remember that!” he exclaimed. “I was still a little kid when it opened. My mom wanted to take me and my brother, but then…” He cut himself off. “…Things happened and we weren’t able to-”

“Gavin _fucking Free!”_

The Photographer in question snapped around at the sound of his name; he grinned when he saw the yeller come sprinting towards him.

“Miss Hilda!” he shouted. “It’s been bloody forever since-!”

As soon as she got within reach, a girl looking extremely similar to Miss Audra shoved Gavin as hard as she could. Losing his balance, the straw haired toppled into the pond, his arms slamming into Ray and knocking the Trainer in with him.

When the two came up for air, Ray spluttered and Gavin simply let the water drip out of his mouth. He had a lily pad on his head, and he sighed towards the girl.

“Yeah, I probably deserved that.”

As Ryan pulled the younger Trainer out of the water, the girl yanked Gavin out and glared at him.

“Do you have any fucking idea just how worried we were?!” she shrieked.

“Well, I’m getting an idea,” he muttered.

“Two and a half months! It’s been two and a half months!”

“I know.”

“And you didn’t even bother to _call_ , or to let us know that you were okay…!”

“It was stupid of me, I know.”

“A fucking letter would have worked, for Arceus’ sake!”

“Like you would have even been able to read the damn thing!”

“I thought you were _dead_!”

This shut the Photographer up; he stared at her in disbelief. Her lower lip began to tremble, but she bit it back and glared at him harder.

“For two and a half _fucking_ months. Two and a half months I’ve thought one of my best friends was fucking dead.”

“Miss Hilda…”

She shoved him again, although this time it was less forceful. “Don’t you fucking ‘Miss Hilda’ me, you bastard! You scared the absolute shit out of everyone!”

He huffed, returning the glare. “What the bloody hell do you want, then?!” he snapped. “I can’t exactly go back in time and tell you all that I’m alright! I don’t have a damn Dialga!”

With a shallow breath, the girl launched herself forwards and pulled him into a tight embrace; his face flushed as soon as he realized that she was shaking, and he shut his eyes and held her back with a sigh.

“I just want you to be okay,” she whispered.

They stayed frozen in that position for a few moments; the other Achievement Hunters glanced at each other awkwardly and tried to stay out of their way. Jack helped Ray out of his sleeveless sweatshirt and wiped off his glasses with his shall in the few minutes that everything was going down.

Once the two pulled away, the girl whipped off her glasses and rubbed her eyes free of tears. Gavin’s shoulders fell when he saw this, and he bit his lip.

“Alright, look,” he mumbled. “I’m… I’m really sorry. I didn’t think it was that big of a deal, really. I thought you guys would figure that I was fine.”

She let out a short, broken laugh. “You’re such a fucking idiot.”

He smiled weakly. “Some things never change…?”

At this point, the girl caught sight of the others standing hesitantly near by. Raising an eyebrow, she pointed to them.

“Did you replace Dan and I when you were gone?” she asked.

“Oh! Miss Hilda, this is Ray, Ryan, Michael, Growlithe, Jack, and Geoff. Guys, this is Hilda. She’s one of my best friends!”

Each one waved at her in turn; she returned the gesture with a small smile before turning and hollering in the direction she’d come from, “Hey, Rusty! Gavin’s back!”

There was a long pause before an older man emerged from around the corner. “I thought you said he was dead,” he said casually.

“Nice to see you too, Rusty,” Gavin replied, letting out a sigh.

The two locked eyes for a moment; the man let out a relieved breath as he hurried over and grinned, ruffling the Photographer’s hair. “I knew you couldn’t stay in the afterlife for long. Too many pictures to take, am I right? You come back to take some more?”

Gavin groaned. “ _Mew_ , no. I’ve taken more than enough from the gardens. Not that they’re not good!” he quickly added. “I just can’t really do much with the same pictures over and over, you know?”

After a soft laugh, the man reached into the pouch that contained Gavin’s camera. He spotted the others and raised a hand in greeting.

“Rusty Bonjour,” he informed. “Main caretaker of the Ozpin Gardens. I assume you all picked him up and brought him back here?”

Geoff hummed. “I… Guess you could say that?”

Before anyone else could say anything, Rusty held up the camera, pointed it to himself and the group, and snapped a picture. As he handed it back, he said, “Good to have you back, kid,” and walked off.

Once he was gone, Hilda turned to the other Achievement Hunters. “That man is fucking amazing,” she pointed out. “He knows literally everything there is to know about this place. And I mean everything- how the pipes work, which ones go where, which plants are which –you can literally ask him about a month six years ago, and he could tell you exactly what was there.”

“He’s not even just an expert on Ozpin Gardens, though,” Gavin added. “I swear, that man’s got blueprints to every damn building in the city!”

“What? Why does he have blueprints?” Michael asked.

Gavin shrugged. “I dunno. Never really thought about that, really…”

There was a few moments of quiet between the group; Hilda eventually turned to them and gestured to the plants behind them.

“Well, you guys are all here anyway. I might as well show you around,” she stated. “I’d let you do it, Gav, but we’ve gotten a lot of new things since you disappeared.”

Ryan perked up. “We’d love to! Thank you!”

 

* * *

 

 

They were getting close to the end of the gardens when Gavin suddenly flopped onto Hilda’s shoulders. She stumbled under the sudden weight, turning to glare at him.

“What the fuck is your problem, Gavin?”

“Miss Hilda, I’m so boooooored…!”

She rolled her eyes. “Seriously? Why don’t you take some pictures or something?”

As he stood himself upright, he let his shoulder sag. “Bloody Ryan took my camera,” he whined. “Wanted to take some pictures of the plants. There’s nothing to doooooo…!”

She punched him gently on the shoulder. “Fucking suck it up, you big baby.”

“Hey, Hilda?” Ray called over, pointing to a wall of vines covered in flowers. “What’s this?”

“Oh, those are a type of plant that we found on Route 17,” she explained. “I can assure you that the name’s really long and complicated, but I won’t bore you with it. It only really grows in dark areas, like caves and shit.”

The youngest hummed in understanding; once everyone had turned their attention away from him, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small rose bud, comparing it to the roses on the vine in front of him.

Before he could get very far in his analysis, a horde of Combee came flying around the wall, causing the Trainer to yelp and fall backwards. He hit the ground hard, just barely keeping his head from hitting the concrete. Once the adrenaline had passed, he heard some howling laughter and a certain excited set of noises.

“Oh my Mew, Ray! Get out your PokeDex! Scan the Combee!” Gavin exclaimed.

Ray sat up, rubbing his shoulder, and frowned. “I can’t,” he said. “I left it at the house with the rest of our stuff.”

The rest of the Achievement Hunters calmed down as Gavin’s shoulders fell. “Oh.”

Growlithe ran over to the youngest as he stood; by this point, Hilda’s small laughs were the only sounds filling the gardens.

“Mew damn, I’ve never seen anyone react like that to a few Combee!” she snickered. “Fuck, man, you had a fucking panic attack!”

Ray immediately became tense as soon as the words came out of her mouth; Gavin gave her a disappointed stare and frowned.

“Really?” he deadpanned.

She stopped, noticing the look on his face. “What?”

“There’s nothing funny about panic attacks. You could have used any metaphor in the damn dictionary, and you chose that?”

“What’s wrong with that?” she questioned. “What the fuck happened to you when you disappeared?”

Gavin crossed his arms. “I just realized how serious stuff like that is, alright? I’ve got people to stand up for.” With a huff, he turned and began to walk away. “I’ll talk to you later, Hilda. I wanna show these blokes the rest of Gubbin. See you later.”

The others followed, with Gavin wrapping an arm around Ray and Growlithe jumping on his shoulder, leaving Hilda standing in confusion.

 

* * *

 

 

As soon as the door had fallen shut behind them, Gavin pulled his arm away to run a hand through his hair and let out a frustrated groan. “Mew _damn_ it! I was really hoping that she had gotten past saying things like that!” He looked at Ray with an apologetic frown. “I am _so_ damn sorry about that! She’s a little… ignorant.”

Ray bit his lip, looking away as he took a deep breath. “I-It’s okay, Vav,” he mumbled. “It’s not your fault. Besides, it wasn’t _that_ big of a deal…”

“Yes, it was,” Gavin replied. “I can tell. You don’t have to act like it wasn’t.”

The youngest fell silent, feeling his throat closing in. He grabbed the hem of his t-shirt and kept his eyes on the ground.

There was a beat of awkward silence as Gavin turned away and shook his head. Geoff cleared his throat, gaining the attention of the others.

“Hey, uh, Gavin?” he said. “You wanna show us where the gym is now?”

The Photographer paused, but nodded regardless. “Sure. It’s only a couple of blocks in this direction.”

They began to walk down the sidewalk again; Ryan kept his gaze on the posters on the passing buildings. Many were for the Ozpin Gardens and for the gym, but a few were advertising a pottery shop that he could only assume was connected to the factories just outside of town. One bright, colorful poster caught his eye particularly quickly, and he stopped walking to read it over.

“What’s this…?” he mumbled.

_23 rd Annual Gubbin City Costume Contest_

_Come see the town’s greatest seamstresses show of their greatest works!_

_THIS FRIDAY!_

Realizing that they were down a person, Michael paused and turned around. “Ryan?”

The rest of the Achievement Hunters did the same as the Ranger, and the Breeder looked at the Gubbin City native.

“Hey, Gavin, what the fuck is this about?”

“What’s what about?” he asked as he ran over. He gave the poster a quick glance before gasping loudly and grinning.

“Arceus, Gav! What the hell’s so exciting?!” Michael snapped.

“The costume contest! I completely forgot about it!” he yelled. “We _have_ to stay around for this, you guys! It’s, like, the most bloody awesome thing about Gubbin City!”

Jack read over the poster and hummed shortly. “It says here that you don’t actually have to be a professional seamstress to enter,” he pointed out. “Are you going to enter it?”

The Photographer pondered it for a minute. “Huh… I dunno. I’ve never done it before, actually,” he admitted. “You know, you don’t _actually_ have to be from Gubbin to enter. I remember a lot of Trainers just passing through that entered just for the hell of it. Any of you blokes could enter, if you really wanted.”

Geoff snorted. “Yeah, like any of _us_ are gonna-”

“I’ll do it.”

Everyone snapped their gazes to Ryan, who shrugged. Ray frowned in confusion.

“Wait, why?” he asked quietly.

“It seems fun,” he replied. “Plus I’ve got a lot of ideas for costumes for musicals and stuff. This would give me the chance to actually make one and see how it looks.”

Gavin smiled nervously. “You do know that you’ve gotta have performance to go with it, right? You know, so you can show it off?”

The older hummed, but shook it off. “Ah, I’m sure I can figure something out. It can’t be _that_ hard, can it?”

“I guess not,” Gavin agreed. “Although, if you want to win, you’ve gotta have a good performance. I mean, the contest’s main focus is the costumes, but honestly? Most people focus on the performance when they’re voting.”

Ray looked at the straw haired. “So are _you_ going to enter?”

He thought for a moment before nodding. “I think I am,” he concluded. “But only if someone’s willing to take photos of it while I’m preforming or backstage.”

“Dibs!” Geoff hollered. “I’ve been dying to figure out that fucking thing since I first saw it!”

Gavin laughed. “It’s just a digital camera, Geoff. It’s not a bloody scientific calculator or something.”

The oldest crossed his arms and glared. “Did I ever say it was?”

“You damn well implied it!”

“Well, fuck you! Did I ‘damn well’ imply that?” Geoff snapped. As the others laughed, he turned and started down the street again. “Let’s just go to the fucking gym already.”

The rest of them began to follow; Ryan smirked. “Are you going to call dibs on getting there first, too?”

Geoff immediately began to run. “Fuck yeah, I am! Fucking dibs!”

Gavin cackled and rushed after him. “You bloody idiot, you don’t even know where it is!”

“I’ll figure it out!”

The others sighed before hurrying after them.

 

* * *

 

 

Geoff and Gavin burst through the doors to the gym at about the same time, drawing the attention of the gym leader and the referee; as they stopped to catch their breath, Geoff scanned the arena.

The floor was covered in orange dust that looked like it came from smashed pottery, and when he looked closely, he could see larger pieces with intricate designs in them. The lines on the field marking the boundaries were faded and scattered around, but still distinguishable. While the ceiling wasn’t very high, it was full of skylights and holes. Furnaces were lining the wall to the left of them, and to the right sat a set of shitty, old bleachers made of wood that was painted in a faded green color and looked like it could snap at any moment.

The oldest raised an eyebrow, ignoring the others as they ran in. “Why the fuck are there wooden bleachers in a Fire Type gym?”

“Gavin?”

The Photographer turned his attention to the gym leader; he grinned and waved.

“Ayyy, B!”

“ _Gavin_!”

The next thing anyone knew, the gym leader, a man about the same age as Gavin with dark hair, had the straw haired tightly in his arms. His face was buried in his shoulder, and as Gavin laughed, he returned the embrace. They stood like that for a moment until the man’s legs gave out, and they fell to their knees. The Photographer let out a shocked breath; the other was silent aside from the short exhales coming from him. Hearing this, Gavin turned his head to look at him.

“Are you… Dan, are you crying?” he asked softly.

With a shuddering breath, the man pulled himself away and punched Gavin hard on the shoulder.

“You bloody arse!” he choked out.

With a groan, Gavin rubbed his shoulder and let out a sigh. “Am I gonna get the same speech from you as I did from Miss Hilda?”

“I don’t know. I don’t _care_. For Mew’s sake, B, never _ever_ do that again!”

The straw haired smiled. “Don’t worry about that,” he said. “I won’t. I’ll make sure to let you know when I’m intentionally leaving again, and if it happens on accident, I’ll be sure to call you as soon as I get the chance, alright?”

The gym leader let out a long sigh of relief and reached forward to hug him again. “You’d better. It’d be a real shame if I killed you as soon as we found out you were still alive.”

Rolling his eyes, Gavin hugged him back and used this as an excuse to get them back onto their feet. He pulled away and gestured to him towards his friends; as soon as he could see the gym leader, Ray let out a quiet gasp.

“Guys, this is Dan,” the Photographer introduced. “You wanted to meet the gym leader, right? Well, here he is. Dan, these are my friends that I met while I was gone. Geoff and Ray are planning on challenging you!”

Dan wiped his eyes and looked at them all with a friendly nod. When his eyes landed on the youngest, he perked up a little.

“Oh, hey! I remember you!” he said cheerfully.

With a grin, Ray rushed to the front of the group to be face to face with him. “You’re the guy who kept me from being hit by a car, aren’t you?”

“What?!”

“When did this happen?!”

“Fucking Arceus, Ray!”

Laughing at the others’ reactions, Dan nodded. “Yeah, that was me! You seem to be a lot more calm now, yeah?”

Ray hesitated, but ended up nodding still. “I-I mean, I’m calmer than I was when you saved me,” he reasoned. “I, uh… I kind of have an anxiety disorder, so I can’t always be _completely_ calm, but…”

Before anyone could get another word in, Geoff pushed his way forward and looked Dan in the eye.

“You’re the gym leader?”

“That’d be me, yeah.”

“What Pokemon do you have?” he asked. “I need to know before I challenge you.”

Quickly, Dan reached to his side and pulled out three PokeBalls. “Well… I’ve got a Fennekin, a Ponyta, and a Houndour,” he informed. “All Fire Types, of course.”

Geoff hummed, looking at the ground. “So… Any of those could have Flash Fire,” he mumbled to himself. “That means I can’t use Vulpix…”

Ray suddenly turned to Geoff, balling his hands into fists and holding them up to his chest in an excited manner. “Dibs!”

The older paused. “I… What? On what? Vulpix?”

“No, on the first battle!” Ray exclaimed. “I call dibs on the first battle!”

The other Achievement Hunters erupted into laughter while Ray continued to grin at Geoff and the oldest stared at him, the look on his face showing that he very clearly _wanted_ to be angry, but couldn’t. He let out a short, frustrated breath.

“You mother fucker.”

The youngest then started to laugh, joining in with the others; Dan just stared, confused, at the entire ordeal. He only raised an eyebrow when Jack fell to the ground, and Gavin crouched.

“I don’t… I don’t understand…”

After a few moments, once everyone had caught their breath and Geoff had regained his composure, the Pokemon Photographer got up and looked at the gym leader. “Do you have anything else to do today?”

He paused before shaking his head. “No, not that I know of.”

“Great! Then you can come with us to eat lunch at my house, and I can explain it to you there!”

Dan smiled, rolling his eyes. “You’re so damn impatient,” he laughed. “Sure, I’ll come along.”

Grinning, Gavin reached forward and grabbed his arm before running to the door, rambling about the stories that he had to tell about what he’d been doing. Ray hurried after them, leaving the rest to follow at their own pace as the journey continued.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the read! Hope you enjoyed!!
> 
> Hopefully this chapter was a bit less worrisome for you all. Everyone's A-OK!
> 
> I made an Opening to an animated version of this fic! It's still very very rough, and copyright claims won't let me post it on Youtube, so there'll eventually be another version for you to see with a different song. For now, though, here's the Tumblr version of it: http://sweetiecurfyart.tumblr.com/post/126351126298/song-is-why-worry-by-set-it-off-i-do-not-claim
> 
> ALSO, IMPORTANT: There will be a 1-2 week hiatus after this week. I move in to college on Sunday for our band camp, so I'll be busy that Monday, and the following Monday is my first day of classes. If I find the time, I'll post then, but probably not next week. Sorry! It's a stressful time ;A;
> 
> [Comfort Ray Button]  
> [Comfort George Button]  
> [Comfort Hilda Button]  
> [Comfort Dan Button]


	27. Gubbin City Gym! Battle for the Badge!!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's time for Ray's gym battle against Dan, and he's been looking forward to it all night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm baaaaaack... 
> 
> Beacon Region Map: http://sweetiecurfyart.tumblr.com/post/111232399174/here-it-is-a-map-of-the-beacon-region-used
> 
> Art will be posted: sweetiecurfyart.tumblr.com  
> Follow me on Twitter under @Sweetie_Curfy  
> Support me on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/sweetiecurfy?ty=h
> 
> Dan's design: http://sweetiecurfyart.tumblr.com/post/128024235109/gubbin-city-gym-leader-dan-gruchy-ahhh-im-so

Gavin threw his arm into the air with a grin. “And then the Salamance started to get ready to use Hyper Beam _right at_ X-Ray! We were all about to shit ourselves when we realized it, but then good ol’ Jack rushed in and got him and his Pokemon out of the way just in time!”

“Jack’s the Pokemon Doctor, right?” Dan asked from his chair next to the couch.

“Yeah, that’s the one! And let me tell you, those doctor skills _really_ came in handy,” he continued. “He let us take refuge in his house while the whole thing blew over, and he fixed Mi-cool right up! Turns out his knee was just twisted, thank Mew. I can’t imagine what it would have been like if he’d sprained or broken it.”

George shifted in his seat next to Gavin. “Is Michael the other Trainer?”

“No, Michael’s the Breeder,” Dan replied.

Laughing, Gavin corrected, “No, you dopes! Mi-cool is the Pokemon Ranger!”

“I thought that was Ray,” George pointed out.

“Nope! Ray’s the other Trainer. He’s got the anxiety disorder.”

“He’s the one challenging me tomorrow,” Dan added. “Isn’t he?”

Gavin nodded. “Yup! I’m actually really surprised with how quickly he’s gotten attached to you, though. It took us over a month for him to tell us about his anxiety disorder, but he just spat it right out at you like it was nothing!”

“Really?” Dan hummed. “I wonder if it’s because of how we met…”

“If that were the case, then he should’ve gotten this close to Mi-cool, but he was bloody terrified of him.” Gavin paused. “Eh… Well, maybe not _terrified_. He said that he was intimidated, if I remember right.”

“He was scared of Michael?” George asked. “Really? From what I’ve seen, Michael’s not all that scary…”

“Yeah, but Ray said that sometimes he gets really intimidated by the people he likes… Oh! Maybe you are right, Dan.” He then perked up, looking towards the dining room. “Speaking of which… Hey, Jack! D’you know where Mi-cool is? I haven’t seen him since we got back!”

The ginger poked his head into the room. “He went to go lay down for a while,” he informed. “Said his cramps were coming back and that he was gonna try and sleep them off.”

Gavin frowned. “He’s still having those?”

“Nurse Joy did say that they would last for a few more days. She also said not to worry about it, so don’t.” With that, the older left.

“Cramps?” George piped in. “What’s he on about?”

The Photographer sighed. “Mi-cool was having some bloody awful stomach cramps when we first got into town,” he explained. “He was throwing up and everything. Couldn’t even walk! So we took him to Nurse Joy and she fixed him up, but they both refuse to tell us what was going on…”

Crossing his arms, Dan leaned back. “Do you think it’s anything serious?” he asked softly.

“That’s what I’m worried about,” Gavin replied, “That it _is_ something serious. Like he’s seriously sick or something.” He then pushed himself to the edge of the couch, standing up. “Speaking of, I gotta make sure Ray starts drinking some juice or something. Bloody Miss Hilda got him soaked, and last time that happened he got sick.”

Dan stood up with him. “I should probably go, anyway,” he said. “If we’re battling tomorrow, I need to do some preparations. I’ll see you tomorrow?”

“Bright and early, B!”

The gym leader paused, his eyes darting over the straw haired for a long moment. Gavin was about to question it, but before any words could come out of his mouth, Dan quickly reached forward and wrapped Gavin in his his arms. Letting out a surprised laugh, the Photographer hugged him back.

“I’m not going anywhere yet, B,” he giggled.

“I know. I just… Mew, we thought you were _gone_ and I’m just… I’m a little overwhelmed. Sorry, B.”

“If anything, _I_ should be the one to apologize, for scaring you all like that.”

They pulled apart, and Dan pointed a finger in his face. “Promise you’ll come along with Ray to his gym battle?”

Gavin smiled. “I wouldn’t even consider _not_ going!”

Dan gave a satisfied nod. “Good. I’ll see you tomorrow, then.”

He turned and left the house with a smile on his face; George looked up at his brother, a frown tugging at the edge of his lips.

“Gav, you… You said you weren’t going anywhere yet,” he said.

The older glanced at him, raising an an eyebrow. “Yeah… Yeah, that’s what I said. Why?”

He shifted, arms folding over his stomach. “…Does that mean you’re planning on leaving again?”

His voice was small and timid, the kind of tone that made Gavin’s stomach drop when it was coming from his own brother. He stared him over; forcing a breath in, he looked to the floor.

“Yeah,” he said after a beat. “Yeah, I kind of was.”

The younger slowly moved his stare towards the fabric of the couch. The frown took over, and he swallowed thickly. “…Oh.”

Gavin bit his lip and turned to look at the door to the dining room. “Let’s talk about this later,” he said softly. “I gotta make sure Ray doesn’t get sick. Stay here, alright?”

He began to walk to the door, but George got up with a sigh before he could get very far.

“I can’t,” he said. “I have to go to work. I’ve got a shift at nine.”

Gavin frowned. “Another? Didn’t you just have one last night?”

“This one’s not as long- only until about three. You guys will probably all be asleep by then.”

“Then we’ll talk tomorrow,” the older reasoned. “Sound alright to you?”

The younger hesitated, but nodded regardless. With a smile, Gavin slapped him on the shoulder.

“Great! Now go get ready for work, you little dope!”

“I’m not that little, Gav…”

The two split off, doing what they needed to do before the night came.

 

* * *

 

 

_“For fuck’s sake.”_

_Ray whipped around at the voice, seeing Geoff standing behind him. He furrowed his brow, knowing that he hadn’t been there before, but he shook it off in favor of running towards him. Before he could make it, however, the oldest held out his hand and glared at him._

_“Why didn’t you take out Budew, or even that weak fucking Starly of yours?! At least it wouldn’t have been as affected by their Rollout! And seriously, pretty much the only thing you did was fucking dodge! That’s absolutely no way to battle! What the fuck were you thinking?!”_

_Geoff reached forward and shoved him. “Why don’t you just fucking go home already? No one likes you anyways! Just get the fuck out of here!”_

_Ray stumbled back, but caught his balance after a moment. On shaky legs, he looked up at the older Trainer. “B-But I thought you said…”_

_“I was lying!” Geoff snapped. “How fucking hard is it for you to realize that?! What makes you think that anyone likes you? We’re all just waiting for you to turn around and go back to Nucom, and the second you do, we’re going to have the biggest fucking celebration ever because you’ll finally be gone, and we won’t have to worry about your fucked up anxiety disorder anymore!”_

_He pushed Ray again, this time knocking him to the ground. The youngest slammed into his knee, causing him to yelp in pain._

_“Geoff…!”_

_“You’re just a fucking weak ass excuse for a Trainer! Like anyone’s ever going to remember you! You’re just a huge ass piece of shit!”_

Gasping, Ray shot straight up, the blanket tumbling into his lap. He looked around wildly, seeing the living room around but not registering that that was where he was. His heart was pounding in his chest, and he shut his eyes tightly. A whimper escaped him as he curled into a ball.

Slowly, everything began to come back to him. They were in Gubbin City, at Gavin’s house. He was sleeping in the living room because Gavin’s brother would be coming back soon and would want his own bed. Jack had moved to sleep with the other Gents in Gavin’s parents’ bedroom. Michael and Gavin were asleep in Gavin’s old bedroom. Everything was fine; there was nothing to be afraid of.

Yet his heart was still pounding, and his mind still racing. He shuddered before grabbing the blanket and running up the stairs to where Gavin’s room was.

As soon as he was stood outside of the shut door, he hesitated. If he went in, would what Geoff had said in his nightmare be true? What if they actually _didn’t_ like him? Wouldn’t this make it worse?

He let out a quiet sigh and turned to go back downstairs; a sudden wave of panic washed over him before he could get there, and before he knew it, he was whipping around and pushing open the door.

“G-Gavin?” he whispered.

He expected the room to be quiet, but from the floor, something shifted. In the pile of blankets on top of the air mattress, Michael sat up, wide awake.

He looked at Ray, concern quickly showing on his features. “Is everything okay?” he muttered.

The Trainer swallowed thickly and clutched the blanket tightly. “I- I had another nightmare.”

Michael frowned, looking at the floor. “Looks like our brains are in sync tonight. I had one, too.” He moved over towards the edge of the mattress and pulled up the edge of his blanket. “You wanna sleep here tonight?”

Ray hesitated. “I mean… I mean, I _do_ , because I kind of don’t really want to be alone right now, but I don’t want to make you uncomfortable or anything,” he mumbled. “I was just planning on sleeping on the floor…”

“No way, dude. To be completely honest, I don’t want to be alone either.”

The younger stepped closer, realizing that there was something missing. “Where’s Growlithe? Wouldn’t you be more okay if Growlithe were here?” he asked.

“It wanted to sleep with Gavin tonight,” Michael explained. “Seriously, Ray, it’s not a big deal. It’s not like we’re going to fuck or anything. We’re just sleeping.”

Taking a deep breath, Ray crouched down and got under the covers next to Michael. They lay on their sides for a moment, just looking each other in the eye, until they both grew uncomfortable and rolled onto their backs.

“What was your nightmare about?” Ray inquired softly. “I-I mean, if you’re okay with talking about it…”

Michael paused before letting out a sigh. “It was just… I was back as my younger self,” he answered timidly. “I didn’t like myself when I was younger. At all. So being back in that body was just… Rattling. I think it was because I missed so much of my medication and the… the cramps came back.”

Ray nodded. “Well… At least you’re past it, right? You’re you now. Just because you forgot your medication doesn’t mean that you’re back to your old self.”

The older smiled, shutting his eyes. “Yeah… Yeah, you’re right.” He turned his head to look at the dark haired. “Do you want to talk about yours? I know you didn’t want to before, but…”

Swallowing, the younger took a deep breath. “I’ve just…” He took another breath, this one shakier than the first. “You remember when Geoff and I had that battle against Matt and Jeremy, and we lost because I was having an anxiety attack and he yelled at me?”

Michael frowned, but nodded silently.

“I keep dreaming that everything’s dark and that he’s yelling at me again. Same words and everything, but he adds onto it.” He shut his eyes tightly. “A-And he’s saying that everything would be easier on everyone if I just left, because none of you guys like me anyway and my anxiety’s just holding you all back.”

“Ray…”

“And I’ve had it so many times that like… Like, I- I’m starting to believe it,” he quietly admitted. “I’ve really started to be scared of doing anything with you guys because I’m starting to be terrified that you’re going to hate me even more for it.”

With a pitying look in his eye, Michael reached over and wrapped an arm around Ray’s shoulder, holding him tightly. “I can absolutely guarantee you that none of that is true,” he reassured. “Of course we like you, man. We fucking love you! Who else would be here to keep everyone in check?”

Ray let out a short, broken laugh. “I’m sure you guys could find someone else.”

Michael shook his head. “Nah. It wouldn’t be the same. It wouldn’t be _you_.”

A smile formed on his face, and he finally pushed himself closer to the Ranger, rolling onto his side to wrap one of his arms around him. “Okay,” he whispered. “I believe you. Thank you.”

“Of course. Can’t let you go around thinking that you’re worthless, you know? No one should ever have to deal with that. Everyone’s got something the world needs.”

Feeling his muscles finally relax, Ray let his eyes slide shut. He was almost asleep when he heard Michael quietly call his name.

“Hmm?”

“You don’t have to be afraid to come talk to us,” he whispered. “I know at least I’m willing to listen to you, no matter what, and I’m sure the others are the same. We’re here for you, man.”

Ray hummed again, a smile forming gently on his face. The next thing Michael knew, the Trainer’s breathing had evened out, and he found his own quickly doing the same.

 

* * *

 

 

The next morning, once the sun had risen and the town was getting ready for the day, the door of the Free household slammed open, letting a certain Trainer sprint out with a grin. Once he reached the bottom of the porch steps, he turned around, bouncing on his heels.

“Come on, come on, come on!” Ray exclaimed. “I want to get there as soon as we can!”

Growlithe came flying out and leapt off of the porch, landing perfectly on the ground in front of Ray. It started to yip with the energy that was radiating off of the youngest, and Michael was soon stepping down with the same sort of smile on his face.

“You don’t have to be so lifeless, Ray,” he sarcastically remarked. “We understand if you’re not excited.”

The dark haired gave a soft, shocked gasp; he immediately began to dash down the sidewalk. “I’m hyped as fuck!” he yelled. “This isn’t fake!”

As the rest of the Achievement Hunters and George came out of the house, Ryan watched the youngest go and groaned. “You just _had_ to fucking say that! Now we’re not going to be able to catch him!”

Laughing, Michael began to chase after him, Growlithe hot on his heels. “Better hurry up, then!”

Gavin grabbed George by the wrist, dragging him along with him as he hurried to join the other Lads. “Come on, we can’t lose them!”

“Is it always like this?!” he yelled.

“Absolutely! Isn’t it top?” He laughed. “I love being with these guys!”

“Guys, slow the fuck down! It’s not like we don’t have all day!”

Gavin turned to look at the oldest Gent. “You’re one to talk, Geoffrey! Weren’t you the one to rush us when we were in Entity?!"

“That was different!”

“How?”

“That was _my_ gym battle!”

Jack huffed. “You are so fucking immature…”

“Your face is immature!”

“My point still stands!”

From down the street, Ray heard the comment and laughed loudly; he then turned back around and focused on speeding up, forcing his gym battle to come seconds sooner and making him wait just a little less.

After a couple of more minutes, Ray burst through the doors and stumbled into the gym. “Dan? Are you here?” he yelled. “I’m ready for our battle!”

A door in the back opened, and the gym leader in question walked out, giving the youngest a smile. “Mew damn, you’re here early!”

“I wanted to get here as soon as I could!”

Dan laughed. “I can tell! Is anyone else coming to watch? I know Gavin is supposed to.”

Ray nodded. “They’re right behind me!”

The doors opened again, this time a bit calmer than before, and the rest of the group poured in. They all stood in one spot for a moment, catching their breath; Geoff looked up and glared at Ray.

“Fuck… you.”

Ray giggled quietly before turning back to Dan. “So are you ready?” he asked excitedly. “Can we get started?”

He rolled his eyes, but nodded regardless. “Yeah, sure. Hey, Aulis! You wanna ref a battle?”

A man popped his head into the room, looked at Ray, and shrugged. “Alright. Why not?”

“Great!” Dan exclaimed. “Ray, you stand at this end of the field. The rest of you go sit in the bleachers.”

Jack hesitated. “Up there?” he asked. “Those bleachers don’t really look that safe…”

“Oh, quit being a baby and get up there,” Geoff replied. He shoved Jack lightly on the shoulder to get him to move, then hurried to where they’d been directed. Once everyone was settled and Ray and Dan were in their places, Aulis got to his spot and held out his hands.

“The Gubbin City Gym’s next Pokémon battle is about to begin! Dan’s challenger today is Ray, from, uh… Where did you say you were from, kid?”

“Nucom Village!”

“Ray from Nucom Village! Each Trainer will have the use of three Pokémon, and the battle will only be over when one Trainer loses all three. Only the challenger may switch out his Pokémon.”

“Three?” Ryan questioned. “It was two at the last gym…”

“There’s always a different Pokemon count at different gyms,” Geoff explained. “I’ve been to gyms where you had five Pokemon each. It wouldn’t surprise me if there was a gym like that in Beacon, too.”

Aulis looked at the younger Trainer. “Ray, are you ready?”

“Fucking absolutely!”

“Dan, are you ready?”

“You know it!”

“Okay! Battle begin!”

Immediately, Ray whipped out a PokeBall and chucked it towards the field. “Starly, go!”

The Starling Pokemon popped out with a battle cry and eagerly flapped above the orange dust. Dan hummed and crossed his arms for a beat before pulling a PokeBall out and tossing to towards the field.

“Ponyta, you’re up!”

Dan’s Pokemon landed on the field confidently, digging its hooves into the dust; Gavin gasped, sitting up straight.

“He’s gotten new Pokemon!” he yelled as he pulled Ray’s PokeDex out of his pocket. “Oh my Mew!”

_Ponyta: the Fire Horse Pokemon. This stunning Pokemon has a fiery mane and tail that grow out right after birth. It spends its life roaming the hills and valleys where it lives._

_Owned by: Dan Gruchy_

“Wha- Where did you get that?” Ryan inquired, voice jumping up an octave.

Gavin smiled at him. “I grabbed it before we left the house,” he explained. “Figured that Ray wouldn’t remember to check the Pokemon, so I decided I’d be the one to let Professor Hullum know that we made it here safely.”

“You can have the first move, Ray,” Dan hollered over.

Ray grinned. “Great! Starly, use Quick Attack!”

The Flying Type flew over as fast as it could, slamming its body full force into Ponyta’s front. The Fire Type stumbled back a few paces, but otherwise seemed to be okay.

“Ponyta, Ember!”

“Dodge it! Fly up!”

As Dan’s Pokemon shot the small flames out of its mouth, Starly flew around and directed its flight towards the ceiling. Before it could get very far, the attack hit it on the wing, causing it to fall and hit the ground with a _poof_ of dust.

Ray winced. “S-Starly?! Starly, are you alright?!”

There was a loud caw from inside the orange cloud, and the Trainer smiled.

“You’ll have to do better than that to knock Starly out!” he yelled. “Use Wing Attack!”

The Flying Type burst through the cloud of dust with its wings extended; as soon as it got close enough, it knocked its wings into Ponyta’s side, toppling it over.

“Get up, Ponyta!”

The Fire Type stumbled to its feet, glaring over at Starly. It stomped its hooves into the ground and let out a low growl. Starly landed and did the same, puffing out its feathers.

Seeing this, Dan grinned. “Well, Ray, looks like our Pokemon have a bit of a rivalry going on!”

Ray nodded. “Yeah, it seems like it!”

The older pulled his hand into a fist and punched towards the field. “Then we’d better keep that flame burning! Ponyta, Tackle!”

Immediately, the Fire Horse Pokemon leapt forward towards the Flying Type. It screeched and tried to fly out of the way, but Ponyta was too quick. Once it made impact, Starly skidded through the dust. It stood, shook it off, and fluttered into the air.

“You use Tackle, too, Starly!”

It flew towards the Fire Type, bracing itself for impact.

“Dodge it!” Dan yelled.

As soon as Starly got near, Ponyta leapt to its left. Starly slowed to a stop and turned around, glaring.

The gym leader pointed at the Flying Type. “Use Flame Wheel!”

A long string of fire erupted out of Ponyta’s mouth as it began to do flips, making it appear like a wheel. Ray grinned cockily.

“Starly?”

His Pokemon looked at him.

“Double Team!”

Geoff jumped up. “When the fuck did-?!”

As soon as Ponyta’s attack launched, Starly leapt into the air, flying quickly in circles. Another Starly appeared, and then a third and fourth, until there was an entire flock of Starly swarming the gym.

Gavin’s eyes widened, and he whipped out his camera and started taking pictures. “Bloody Arceus, what the hell is this move?!”

“It’s Double Team,” Ryan explained. “The Pokemon using it makes copies of itself using the air and materials around it, which fools the opponent Pokemon into using its attack on one of the copies. It basically makes it harder to hit the Pokemon using it, or in this case, Starly.”

Just as Ryan had explained, Ponyta launched itself at the Starly surrounding it. It hit one near the edge of the field, and it exploded in a poof of orange dust. It flew at another, to which the same results were yielded.

“Keep trying, Ponyta! You’ll find it!” Dan commanded.

“While it’s doing that, hit it with Wing Attack!”

Geoff huffed and sat down. “That fucking idiot!”

“What? What’s so bad about that?” George asked. “Since there’s more of them, that’ll hit it harder, won’t it?”

“No! The copies that hit it will be fucking destroyed, and even if they aren’t, Ponyta won’t feel it! The real Starly’s gonna be fucking revealed fast as dicks!”

Ponyta kept hitting Starly after Starly, while the Flying Types began to slam their wings into the opponent’s Pokemon. Sure enough, as soon as they made contact, the copies exploded into orange dust; Ray gasped, eyes going wide.

“W-What?! No, wait, what the fuck?! What is happening?!”

Before all of the Starly could even disappear, however, Ponyta slammed into one and knocked it back. When it hit the ground, the rest of the copies disappeared, causing a dusting to land on the fighting Pokemon. Ponyta finally slowed to a stop and slammed its hooves into the ground.

Ray watched his Pokemon closely. “S-Starly? You alright?”

It struggled back onto its talons, swaying dangerously. Dan smiled and pointed at it.

“Ponyta, use Ember one more time. I think that’ll be enough for now.”

Nodding, Ponyta stayed in its spot and shot the small flames at the Flying Type. Ray winced as Starly fell to the ground, unconcsious.

“Starly is unable to battle! Ponyta is the winner!”

Ray let out a sigh. “Dammit.”

With a cheer, Dan gave his Pokemon a thumbs up. “Nice job, Ponyta! We’ve got this!”

As Ray put his Pokemon back into its PokeBall, Gavin turned to Ryan.

“I’ll bet you Ray’ll pull a win out of his ass.”

The older leaned back for a beat, pondering this and crossing his arms. A hand reached up to his chin, tapping on it gently. “What’s your price?”

The Photographer smiled. “Five quid.”

Ryan held out a hand. “You’ve got a deal.”

Back on the field, Ray stuck his PokeBall back onto his belt and looked forward towards Dan. There was a moment where neither of them were doing anything, and then a grin broke onto Ray’s face, and he began to loudly giggle.

The Achievement Hunters and George cast each other confused looks. “Is… Is he okay?” Michael mumbled.

“I think he’s gone mental,” Gavin whispered in reply.

Dan raised an eyebrow across the field. “Are you alright…?”

It took a moment, but eventually, Ray got ahold of himself and let out a deep breath as he grinned at his opponent.

“I’m completely fine,” he beamed. “Completely, absolutely fine. Perfect, even!” He pulled out another PokeBall and threw it towards the field. “Let’s keep it going! Budew!”

Geoff threw his hands into the air, looking at the ceiling. “What the _fuck_ \- I’m not even going to question it anymore! I fucking give up!”

When the Grass Type Pokemon landed on the field, it gave a short battle cry that was cut off when it saw the Ponyta in front of it. Shuddering, it put its feel shoulder width apart and forced a confident look on its face.

“You want the first move again?” Dan asked.

Ray nodded and held out a hand. “Abso-fucking-lutely! Budew, use Absorb!”

A pale, green beam shot through the air to knock into Ponyta; the Fire Horse Pokemon winced and stumbled back a few steps. As soon as it came out of it, Dan pointed forward.

“Use Ember!”

Digging its hooves into the dust, Ponyta shot a bunch of small flames at the Grass Type; before they could reach, Ray yelled, “Get out of the way!”

Budew leapt to the side just in time, rolling as the Ember attack crashed into the ground right where it had been. Once it was back on its feet, the Nucom Village native held out his hand.

“Now use Abosrb again!”

The attack hit quickly, causing Ponyta to fall onto its knees. After a moment, it stumbled back up, glaring at Budew.

“Try to hit it with another Ember, and this time, don’t let it miss!”

“Budew, dodge it!”

The Fire Type shot its attack at the opponent Pokemon, which ran off to its left to try to avoid it. Flames kept landing just inches behind it, until finally, a few made contact, causing Budew to fall to the ground.

“Ha! Got ya!”

Ray glared confidently at Dan. “Don’t get your hopes up, Dan! Budew, Mega Drain!”

Leaping back onto its feet, the Grass Type launched a strong, neon green beam at Ponyta. The attack was so fast that it didn’t even have time to react, and the longer the attack stayed on the Pokemon, the more tired it got. Finally, it shut its eyes, collapsing to the ground in a pile.

“Ponyta is unable to battle!” Aulis announced. “The winner is Budew!”

Throwing his fist up and jumping into the air, Ray cheered joyfully. Budew did the same, spinning in a circle on one leg. As Dan put Ponyta back into its PokeBall, he rolled his eyes and smiled.

“Don’t get too excited,” he laughed. “I’ve still got two Pokemon left.”

“Yeah? Well, that’s one less Pokemon than before!” Ray replied cheerily. “We’ve got this, Budew!”

It cried out confidently, positioning itself to brace for impact.

“Mew damn, Ray’s getting really confident,” Michael said.

“It’s definitely a nice change,” Jack added, crossing his arms. “It’s not often that we see this side of him.”

Geoff hummed. “Yeah, but I’m a little worried that he’s getting _too_ confident.”

“What?” Gavin chimed. “There’s no such thing as too confident! Not for X-Ray!”

“That’s not true. That’s as far from truth as dicks. If he gets too cocky, he might over estimate his Pokemon’s strength and wind up losing fast as fuck.”

Frowning, Gavin turned to look back at the field. “But… But it’s Ray. He usually knows his boundaries, doesn’t he?”

Michael scoffed. “Are you fucking kidding me? We’re talking about the same kid who gives himself a fucking anxiety attack every other week because he pushes himself too far! Who’s to say that he won’t do the same damn thing with his Pokemon?”

Ryan put a hand on Michael’s leg. “Calm the fuck down. He’s usually better with his Pokemon than he is with himself. I think it’s a pride thing, like he doesn’t want us to think that he’s weak, but he also doesn’t want us to think that he’s a bad Trainer.”

Letting out a laugh, Dan pulled out another PokeBall. “Well, Ray, if you’re that sure you’re gonna win, I might as well bring out my strongest now. You’ll be able to beat my Houndour pretty easily, then right?”

The Pokemon popped out of its PokeBall, landing on the ground directly in front of Budew and causing it to fall back in shock. It stared up at the black, dog-like Pokemon with fear in its eyes; Houndour glared and bore its teeth.

“Mew damn,” Gavin breathed. “That’s bloody terrifying…”

George pointed to the PokeDex. “Aren’t you going to use that thing on it?”

“Oh! Right!”

Michael sighed. “Mew damn, you’re just as bad as Ray with that…”

_Houndour, the Dark Pokemon. Houndour are pack Pokemon that can eloquently convey their feelings through the different pitch of their cries._

_Owned by: Dan Gruchy_

Ray’s eyebrows rose, and he readjusted his glasses. “Wow,” he mumbled. “That’s… That’s pretty creepy. Budew, we can beat it! Don’t worry!”

Budew quickly regained its composure and nodded, waiting for instruction.

“Go ahead, Ray! Take the first move!” Dan hollered.

The younger let out a short sigh. “Should I just assume that I get the first move every time? Budew, use Absorb!”

“Dodge it, Houndour!”

Houndour leapt out of the way, and the green beam hit the ground right where it had been standing. Once the Dark Pokemon skidded to a stop, Dan held out his hand.

“Use Ember!”

It crouched a little as it shot the small flames out of its mouth. Before Ray had a chance to say anything, the attack hit Budew, and it stumbled back a few steps.

“Shit!” Ray gasped. “U-Uh, Budew, when you recover, try to use Mega Drain!”

As soon as the flames stopped coming, the Bud Pokemon put its legs shoulder width apart and shot the neon green beam.

“Move!”

Houndour leapt and somersaulted out of the way, but Budew’s attack skimmed its leg, causing it to roll to the side. It stood up, wincing as Budew shook itself into the energy it’d just gotten.

“Fucking nice!” Ray yelled.

“I wouldn’t get too excited yet!” Dan replied. “Houndour, use Bite!”

With a growl, the Fire Type shot forward, teeth bared and a menacing look on its face. Up in the stands, Michael gasped and flinched, throwing his hands in front of his face. Gavin raised an eyebrow at him.

“Mi-cool, boi, you alright?”

There was a beat before the Ranger lowered his hands; he opened his eyes and looked around at his surroundings before relaxing and laughing nervously.

“Y-Yeah, I’m fine,” he responded. His voice was shaking, and his face was pale. Growlithe jumped into his lap and nudged his abdomen until he started petting it.

Gavin kept his eyes on the older, worry stuck in his head, until he heard Aulis yelling out.

“Budew is unable to battle! The winner is Houndour!”

Ray’s shoulders dropped as he looked at his unconscious Budew on the ground. He let out a sigh and put it back into its PokeBall before looking over at Dan.

With a smirk, the gym leader said, “Well, how’re you going to recover from this, Ray? I’ve got two Pokemon on you. Think you might need to train some more?”

Ray let out a short breath and pulled out another PokeBall, staring at it cautiously. “Well…,” he whispered. “I guess it’s your turn.” He looked up again and grinned confidently. “Nah, I think I’ve trained just enough to kick your ass! Cyndaquil, it’s time to blaze it up!”

Cyndaquil popped out of the ball with a cry of attack, only to flinch back when it saw Houndour glaring down at it. Dan stifled a laugh and raised an eyebrow.

“Looks more like you need to boost its confidence more than you need to train it!”

Face flushing, the Trainer bit his lip towards Cyndaquil. “Come on, man, you’re stronger than it! Nothing to be scared of!”

After a moment, the Fire Mouse Pokemon uncurled from itself and put all four paws on the ground. Ray smiled and pulled his hand into a fist.

“Great! Let’s start out with Tackle, then!”

Cyndaquil hurried forward, gaining speed with each step it took.

“Dodge it!”

Just as Ray’s Pokemon was about to make contact, Houndour stepped out of the way, causing Cyndaquil to tumble into the dust.

“Now use Bite!”

Before it could get up, Houndour clamped its jaw down onto Cyndaquil’s back leg. It cried out in pain, and Ray winced.

“Cyndaquil!”

As soon as it let go, the Fire Mouse Pokemon limped as fast as it could over to the side of the field with its Trainer and whimpered. Ray bit his lip, frowning when he saw a bit of blood dripping onto the field.

“C-Cyndaquil, I…”

“Use Ember again!”

The small flames slammed into Cyndaquil’s back, knocking it into the dust. Ray let out a yelp in surprise. It struggled back to its feet slowly, then turned towards Houndour.

Swallowing thickly, Ray tentatively held out his hand. “Ember, let’s go!”

The Fire Mouse Pokemon quickly shot the attack back at the Dark Pokemon, and it didn’t even bother to move. The attack hit it in the chest, knocking it back a few steps.

“Houndour, Bite!” Dan yelled.

“Dodge it!”

The opponent Pokemon launched itself at Cyndaquil, but the Trainer’s Pokemon rolled out of the way just in time. As it lunged again, Cyndaquil managed to leap up and onto Houndour’s back.

“Now use Ember again!”

“Get it off of you!”

As Cyndaquil fired the small flames onto Houndour, it began to kick and rear back. After a couple of minutes, Ray’s Pokemon flew off and rolled through the dust. Houndour whipped around and growled at it.

Geoff frowned, worry taking over the look on his face. “I hope Ray knows enough of what he’s doing to get Cyndaquil out of there,” he mumbled.

George raised an eyebrow. “Why’s that?”

“If he doesn’t get Cyndaquil out of there, it’s over,” he explained. “And if it’s bad enough… It might not just be the battle that’s over.”

The younger Free’s eyes widened before turning back to the field.

Taking a deep breath, Dan’s face turned stoic, and he pointed to Cyndaquil.

“Use Bite.”

Houndour launched itself forward as quickly as Ray shot his hand out. He felt his voice yelling something, but his mind was blank; everything suddenly moved into slow motion as he watched the Dark Pokemon go after his first.

In the middle of the lunge, Cyndaquil’s eyes shut tight, and it promptly began to glow a bright white color.

Time began to move regularly now, and Ray heard Geoff yelling, “Oh my fucking _Mew_!”

“What’s happening?!” Gavin hollered.

“It’s evolving!” Ryan’s voice rang out.

Ray’s eyes stayed on his Pokemon as Houndour finally reached it; before its teeth could rip into it, a pair of paws shot out and held it back.

The light exploded, and instead of Cyndaquil, there was now a taller, larger version of it on the field.

A grin split onto Dan’s face, and he jumped in place. “Oh my Mew, Ray, congrats! Your Cyndaquil evolved into Quilava!”

Gavin didn’t need to be told this time; he whipped open the PokeDex and held it up towards Ray’s Pokemon.

_Quilava, the Volcano Pokemon. When Quilava gets ready to fight, the flames around it will burn more intently, intimidating even the most stalwart foes._

_Owned by: Ray Narvaez Jr._

There was a beat, and then the Trainer began to laugh joyously. He threw his hands into the air and grinned at his Pokemon.

“This is fucking great!” he cheered. “Cynda- Uh, I mean, Quilava, I’m so fucking proud of you!”

Even though it was still holding Houndour back, Quilava managed to look at its Trainer and give him a wink. Dan smiled and nodded towards the battle.

“Well, Ray, we’d better keep this fight going!” he pointed out.

Ray nodded. “Right. Quilava, use Ember!”

Immediately, the taller Pokemon blasted the flames into the Dark Pokemon’s face, knocking it back a few yards. It tumbled through the dust before rolling back onto its feet.

“Houndour, you use Ember right back!”

“Dodge it!”

Quilava dropped to the ground, and the Ember attack shot right over its head. As soon as they had passed, it jumped back up and waited for instruction.

Ray pointed to Houndour. “Use Tackle!”

It quickly ran forward and slammed into the opponent Pokemon before Dan could say anything, and the Dark Pokemon skidded through the dust, causing a small cloud to form. Once it cleared, it was seen that Houndour was unconscious.

“Houndour is unable to battle!” Aulis announced. “Quilava is the winner!”

Ray punched the air and jumped a bit, yelling out. Quilava did the same, although when it landed, it stumbled a bit and fell onto its knees. Its Trainer immediately stopped and frowned, but he didn’t have time to question it before Dan was putting Houndour away and pulling out another PokeBall.

“Alright, that was pretty impressive,” he informed. “But don’t forget that I’ve still got another Pokemon!”

With that, Dan tossed the PokeBall towards the battle field, and the next Fire Type Pokemon popped out with a yip. It landed softly on the field, staring up innocently at Quilava.

Ray raised an eyebrow. “What Pokemon is that? I’ve never seen it before…”

In the stands, Ryan nudged Gavin. “Hey, aren’t you going to scan it?” he asked.

Gavin frowned. “Why should I? Dan’s had that Pokemon for as long as I can remember.”

“Don’t you want to know more about it, though? Like, what kind of a Pokemon it is?”

“It’s a Fire Type, Ryan. Why else would it be in this gym?” Gavin questioned, voice jumping higher halfway through the sentence.

“Not its type, you moron, its-!”

Geoff leaned forward and cut the Breeder off. “It’s a Fennekin,” he quickly informed. “It’s the Fox Pokemon, and it’s one of the starters in the Kalos region.”

Jack looked at the older Trainer. “That’s one of the regions you’ve gone through, right?”

“Nah. Not yet, anyway. But I do have a friend who went there after he cleared Johto.” After stating this, Geoff let out a breath and looked back at the field. “I’m just glad that that’s all it is. Anything stronger, and Ray would’ve been fucking crushed. Quilava’s already taken a lot of damage.”

Back on the field, Ray frowned. “Aw, come on, man, I can’t battle that! It’s, like, just a baby!”

“Flame Charge!”

Quicker than any of them could have imagined, Fennekin engulfed itself in flames and launched itself towards Ray’s Pokemon. Once it made contact, Quilava flew back and rolled through the dust.

“Fucking _Arceus_! Quilava, you okay?!”

The Volcano Pokemon got back to its feet and nodded. With a relieved smile, Ray pointed to the smaller Pokemon.

“Thank Mew! Now use Tackle!”

Quilava rushed forward, meaning to slam its body into Fennekin, but stumbling at the last minute and crashing into the ground. Fennekin simply watched it and giggled when it landed right in front of it.

Michael raised an eyebrow. “What’s going on with Quilava?” he asked. “It’s acting like it’s still hurt from before, but it doesn’t look like it is…”

A frown etched itself onto Jack’s face, and he watched carefully as Ray’s Pokemon got back onto its feet.

“That’s okay, Quilava, just try again!” Ray yelled. “Tackle, again!”

It brought itself back a few steps before running up and completing its previous intentions. Fennekin skidded back a little, but stayed on its feet for the most part.

Dan held out his hand. “Fennekin, use Ember!”

“Dodge it!”

Quilava began to run, a stream of small flames following it; it suddenly stopped, leapt over the stream, and ran in the opposite direction until it figured that it was safe. It got down on all fours and stared at the Fox Pokemon.

“You use Ember, too!”

“Jump, Fennekin!”

“Follow it!”

Another stream of flames shot towards Fennekin, but it jumped just in time. However, as it fell back to the ground, the attack managed to hit it right in the abdomen, throwing it back a few yards.

Frowning, Dan pointed to Quilava. “Use Flame Charge again!”

“Get out of the way this time!”

“Make sure you hit it!”

When the ball of flames came towards the Volcano Pokemon, it leapt to the side and let it fly past. Immediately, it turned and kept its aim locked on. As it came near again, Quilava dropped to the ground and rolled out of the way. Fennekin then jumped up and attempted to come down on the Trainer’s Pokemon, but it sprinted a few yards away, causing it to crash into the dust. The flames dissolved, and Fennekin stood in its little crater, shaking the orange off of it.

“While it’s still,” Ray yelled, “Tackle!”

Quilava dashed behind Fennekin and stalled for a beat before hurrying forward and slamming its body weight into the Fox Pokemon. It yipped and tumbled over itself; by the time it had slid to a stop, Fennekin had been knocked unconscious, giving it a rag doll effect as it rolled onto its back.

“Fennekin is unable to battle! Quilava is the winner! Therefore, the victory goes to the challenger, Ray!”

A grin split onto the youngest’s face, and he jumped, throwing his hands up. “Fuck yes! I knew we could do it, Quilava!”

The Pokemon in question ran forward and leapt up onto its Trainer’s chest; Ray attempted to hold onto it and stay standing, but the force knocked him to the ground. He laughed and hugged his Pokemon tight.

Gavin jumped out of his seat and cheered. “That means you owe me five quid, Ryan!”

Shaking his head, Geoff let a small smile form on his face. “That kid’s got some fucking weird ass tricks up his sleeve…”

“I’ll say,” Ryan replied. “I don’t think Cyndaquil evolving was even part of his plan. Honestly, all that he really had planned out was which Pokemon he was going to use when.”

“Did he say anything about using Starly’s Double Team?” the oldest asked.

“He mentioned it. Wasn’t sure if he was going to actually do it, though.”

Michael stood up, looking at the Breeder. “When _did_ it learn Double Team, anyway?”

“He woke me up a couple of nights before we met Griffon and asked me to help him train,” Ryan admitted. “I think he’d had a nightmare and just wanted to get it off of his mind. He looked pretty fucking freaked out. But anyway, we went off and battled for a bit, and it suddenly used the move. I guess it had learned it a while ago, but never used it.”

Frowning, the Ranger looked to where Ray was getting off of the ground. “A nightmare, huh?”

Back on the field, the younger Trainer put Quilava in its PokeBall as Dan did the same with his Fennekin. He made his way over to the Trainer and smiled at him.

“Nice job! That was one of the most fun battles I’ve had in a long time!” he exclaimed.

Laughing, Ray nodded. “Yeah, me too! Well, one of the most fun battles I’ve had ever, I guess. I haven’t been a Trainer for that long, really.”

“I wasn’t able to tell. You battled really strongly!”

The younger’s eyes lit up. “Really? You think so?”

With a smile, Dan nodded. “Yeah, absolutely! You definitely deserve to get your badge. Oh, speaking of which, come with me! I’ve gotta give you that, don’t I?”

The gym leader began to walk to the back door, and Ray gave the Achievement Hunters and George a large grin before hurrying after him. Once they stepped through and stomped the dust off of their feet and onto the tile floor, Dan shut the door and lead them down a long hallway.

He pointed to a door at the end of the hall. “That door down there leads to the pottery factory, where Gavin’s brother works,” he informed. “That’s why it’s so warm in here. There’s kilns beside every station.”

Ray looked at the older. “If it’s so warm, why do you wear that long sleeved shirt _and_ the sweatshirt?” he asked. “N-Not that it’s bad or anything, I-I just… Don’t you get overheated?”

“I’d rather be overheated than get scorched every damn day,” he replied. “Even though our battle was fun, it was really tame. Usually there’s at least one move that’ll go astray and hit me. I learned pretty fast to make sure I wear protective clothing when working in a Fire Type gym.”

There was a beat of silence, and then Dan was leading Ray into a side room. Inside were a few sets of filing cabinets, all gray and rusty. A bunch of shelves littered the walls, and they were covered with various items, from small, decorated boxes to vases and bowls. Dan reached up to a top shelf, one that was way out of Ray’s reach, and pulled down a lightish red box.

“Here we are,” he mumbled. Turning back to Ray, he opened it up and showed him the inside, which was full of stacks of the same little pin. It was red, shaped like a small flame, and had a yellow design inside of it. The light reflected off of it easily, and Ray winced a little bit when one reflected into his eye.

“Are these the badges?” he asked quietly.

“Yup! This is the Sigma Badge!” Dan pulled one out of the box and handed it to the Trainer. “Is this your first badge?”

Ray shook his head. “No, I won the one in Entity City, too.”

“Oh, that’s Brandon’s gym! That’s great!” he remarked. “I figured you had at least one, but I’m supposed to ask every Trainer that wins. It’s in the rule book.”

“There’s a rule book?”

“Yeah. Not many people read it, though. It’s mostly just for the gym leaders.”

Dan shut the box and placed it back on the shelf; as he was turned away, Ray suddenly piped up, “What are you doing tomorrow?”

The older looked at him and paused to think. “Just running some errands. Nothing too important. Why? You want to challenge me again?” he joked.

“Actually, Geoff does!” Ray informed. “Or… Not _again_ , I guess, but for the first time. Is there- Is there a way that I can, like, make sure that he can get a battle tomorrow…? He usually wants to have his battles right away!”

“I remember him saying something about challenging me,” Dan recalled. “But yeah, of course! That won’t be a problem.”

He turned and left the room; Ray quickly ran out after him, watching him for a moment as he walked back down the hallway. When he realized that no one was following, he turned back around to give a smile to the younger.

“Well, come on, then! Don’t want to leave your friends waiting, now, do you?”

Grinning, Ray hurried after him, and they continued their trek down the hall.

 

* * *

 

 

As soon as he was outside, the group was on him like a pack of hungry Mightyena. They were asking questions left and right and backing him into the wall; anxiety quickly began to set in, and he tore through them to get to an open space. Once he was alright again, he pulled out his badge and held it up.

“I got the Sigma Badge!”

Geoff gently took it out of his hands and looked it over. “Huh… So that’s what this looks like,” he mumbled. “Congrats, buddy!”

“That battle was bloody amazing!” Gavin exclaimed. “I got _so_ many pictures out of it! Starly’s Double Team was absolutely top!”

“And how about Cyndaquil evolving into Quilava?” Michael added. “That was pretty fucking convenient!”

Ray grinned and nodded. “I know! I had no idea it was that close to evolving!”

“That’s what happens when you Train a lot,” Geoff pointed out. “You know, if you’d trained just a little bit harder, it could have evolved before the battle even started.”

Ignoring him, Gavin turned to Dan. “And you did amazingly too, Daniel!” he exclaimed. “You’ve gotten a lot better since I’ve been gone!”

Dan crossed his arms. “Are you implying that I was a bad gym leader two and a half months ago?”

“What?! No, that’s not what I meant by that at all!”

The gym leader laughed and punched his shoulder. “I’m just bloody joking! Relax, man.” He then looked at Ray and smiled. “Hey, like I said, that was a great battle! I had a lot of fun!”

“Me, too!” Ray replied. He turned to Geoff, who was still looking at the badge. “Oh! By the way, I talked to him for you, and I got you a gym battle tomorrow! I-I mean, you know, if that’s okay with you and all…”

The oldest smiled and nodded. “That’s fucking great! Thanks!”

There was a beat of silence, and then George looked at Dan. “D’you need to go to the Pokemon Center, then?” he asked. “I dunno how hurt your Pokemon are, but…”

“Yeah, I probably should,” he replied. “They’re pretty wiped out after that.”

Jack looked at Ray. “You should probably go, too,” he informed. “You shouldn’t push your Pokemon, you know.”

Ray nodded before gently grabbing Dan’s wrist and starting to run down the street.

“Let’s go, then!” he exclaimed.

Laughing out of a mix of shock and amusement, the rest of the group hurried after them, making sure they all stayed together as the journey continued.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading, hope you enjoy!!
> 
> Man, guys, do you know how weird it is to be posting a chapter I wrote in high school when I'm in college? It's fucking weird, dude. Really fucking weird.
> 
> Anyways! I have class in half an hour, so I gotta make this quick! Sorry about the excess stuff in the beginning, and sorry if the gym battle was still kind of off. Let me know if you see anything wrong with it, please, again!
> 
> [Comfort Ray Button]  
> [Comfort Michael Button]  
> [Comfort Dan Button] (since he got his ass handed to him HELL YEAH)
> 
> See you guys next week!!


	28. Gubbin City Gym! The Fight for Victory!!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's Geoff's turn to try for the Sigma Badge, and he is ready as dicks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beacon Region Map: http://sweetiecurfyart.tumblr.com/post/111232399174/here-it-is-a-map-of-the-beacon-region-used
> 
> Art will be posted: sweetiecurfyart.tumblr.com  
> Follow me on Twitter under @Sweetie_Curfy  
> Support me on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/sweetiecurfy?ty=h
> 
> Dan's design: http://sweetiecurfyart.tumblr.com/post/128024235109/gubbin-city-gym-leader-dan-gruchy-ahhh-im-so

After getting his second gym badge, Ray and the rest of the Achievement Hunters, along with Gavin’s brother and Dan himself, were waiting at the Pokemon Center for Nurse Joy to finish looking over the Pokemon belonging to Ray and Dan. The group was sat on the benches near the door as they engaged in conversation.

“So you’re pretty young to be a gym leader,” Geoff pointed out. “You must have been pretty fucking skilled when they were creating the Beacon League.”

“Not quite, actually,” Dan answered with a laugh. “They originally wanted to get my grandfather to do it, but he was so old then that he didn’t think he could handle it. At the time, I was the only other Trainer in town who was serious about Pokemon Battling, and since I was related to him anyway, they told me to do it instead. I got a lot of help from my grandfather before the gym actually opened up.”

Gavin began to laugh. “Remember how bloody terrified you were for your first official battle?” he asked.

Dan groaned, putting his head in his hands. “Don’t even talk about that…!”

“He was so damn scared that he almost shit himself,” the Photographer explained. “And then his opponent had a bloody Lucario on her! She kicked his arse like it was nothin’!”

“My poor Monferno was mortified after that,” Dan remembered. “It wouldn’t come out of its PokeBall for a week!”

“Even then, it only came out because we lured it out with a pretty little Numel!”

“Uh, if I recall correctly, it was _my_ Numel,” George added.

Gavin shrugged, waving his brother off. “Ah, that’s not important to the story! All that’s important is that we remember Monferno was the most lovesick Pokemon!”

“What do you mean, ‘not important’? It followed me around for three days!”

“That’s true!” Dan exclaimed. “I forgot about that! I practically had to drag it back to the gym the next time I had a battle!”

Michael raised an eyebrow. “So where’s Monferno now?” he asked. “You didn’t use it at the gym. Do you still have it?”

Dan shook his head. “Nah. It evolved a while ago, and then it got really hurt and couldn’t battle anymore. I let a friend take it. She’s always been in love with it, anyway, and she’s a Pokemon Breeder, so I figured it’d be a lot happier with her rather than me.”

“Hey, Ryan’s a Breeder!” Jack pointed out. “Do you think they’d know each other?”

The gym leader shrugged. “Maybe. It’s possible, I guess.”

Ryan frowned. “Ehh… Probably not. I don’t know a lot of other Breeders. Only, like, two.”

There was a lull in the conversation; before anyone could break the silence, the door behind the counter opened, and Nurse Joy stepped out. Ray and Dan quickly got up and made their way over to her.

“Are our Pokemon alright?” Dan asked.

She hesitated. “Well… Yours are fine, Dan. Nothing to worry about, as usual! Just made sure they get some rest before your next battle.”

Ray frowned, looking at Nurse Joy nervously. “Is there something wrong with mine?” he asked tentatively.

She stared at him for a beat before taking a deep breath and leaning on the counter near him. “Ray, when did your Quilava evolve?”

He swallowed thickly. “J-Just today,” he whispered. “During the gym battle. Is something wrong with it?”

“Was it hurt before it evolved? Specifically in its back leg?”

He nodded, feeling his face going pale. What had he done wrong? Had he fucked something up and not even known about it?

Dan noticed that Ray had gone quiet, so he spoke up instead. “My Houndour bit it,” he explained. “It was a pretty nasty wound, but when it evolved, it should have been fine, shouldn’t it?”

Nurse Joy shook her head. “I’m afraid not. Most Pokemon, when they evolve, any injuries are healed with the extra energy that comes with it. However, if by chance the Pokemon’s injuries heal wrong, they can do more damage than good.”

Ray bit his lip; Dan tensed up a little. “Right, I knew that,” he said. “That’s similar to what happened to Infernape when it evolved.”

“And that’s what happened with Quilava,” she informed. “When it was bitten, the wound went all the way down to the muscle and tore through some layers of it, and when it evolved, those muscles didn’t heal correctly.”

The youngest felt himself beginning to shake a little bit, and he grabbed onto the counter. “I-Is it going to be alright…?”

The gym leader quickly grabbed hold of Ray’s shoulder, and Nurse Joy leaned forward with a soft smile. “It’s not going to die, if that’s what you’re wondering. It’ll be fine. Now, there are going to be some things different about it, and some potential risks, but it’ll just be something you’ll have to live with.”

“Like what?” Dan asked. “I know I had to let Infernape go live with Emma. Will Ray have to do the same?”

“No, no, not at all!” she quickly said. “Quilava’s injuries weren’t nearly as bad as that. There might be some muscular dystrophy, but the odds of that are pretty low. I’d say the worst you’ll have to deal with is chronic pain and weakened use, so that means you can’t push it too hard, understand?”

Ray nodded slowly. “I-I get it.”

“How are his other Pokemon?” the older questioned. “Starly and Budew, if I remember correctly?”

“Those two are perfectly fine,” Nurse Joy reassured. “Like yours, they only need to rest some before their next battle.” She then pointed to where the others were sitting, looking at Ray. “Why don’t you go sit down for a while? I’ll bring out your Pokemon in a few minutes.”

The two nodded and went back over, with Dan leaving his hand on Ray’s shoulder. The Trainer sat next to Jack, while the gym leader sat back on the floor next to Gavin.

“So is everything alright?” Ryan asked. “You were over there for a while, and you don’t have your Pokemon back yet…”

Dan looked at Ray, who hesitated. “I… Uh… Yeah, everything’s fine,” he mumbled.

The gym leader raised an eyebrow. “Are you not going to tell them? Come on, man, isn’t Ryan a Pokemon Doctor? He’d need to know about it.”

Gavin leaned over. “Dan, Jack’s the Pokemon Doctor,” he whispered. “Ryan’s the Breeder.”

“Ah, damn, sorry. _Jack_ ’s the one who’d probably need to know about it, then.”

“Know about what?” the ginger asked. He looked at Ray. “Did something happen with one of your Pokemon? What’s going on?”

Ray’s mouth opened and shut a couple of times before he clamped it closed and looked at Dan helplessly. The older rolled his eyes and looked at Jack.

“Something went mingy when it evolved, and its muscles didn’t heal right, apparantly,” he explained. “Nurse Joy said that it wasn’t anything too serious, but it would still need to be looked at, I guess.”

Jack whirled around to look at Ray. “And you just weren’t going to tell us?!” he snapped. “Ray, what were you thinking? This is something serious!”

Ray flinched and moved back tentatively. “I-I…”

“Aw, leave X-Ray alone!” Gavin piped in. “I’m sure he’s just stressed, and that his anxiety’s acting up! No need to push him into a panic or anxiety attack, am I right?”

The Pokemon Doctor took a breath and pointed a finger at the youngest. “We’ll talk about this later, understand?” he growled. He then stood up and started towards the counter. “I’m gong to talk to Nurse Joy about this. Make sure there’s nothing else Ray’s not telling us.”

As soon as he was gone, Growlithe leapt into Ray’s lap with a whimper. The Trainer stayed tensely still, eyes staring at the ground and jaw clamped shut. After glancing at the others, Michael pulled himself up to where Jack had been sitting and tentatively put a hand on Ray’s shoulder. When he didn’t flinch away, he leaned a little closer to him.

“You okay there?” he whispered.

He nodded curtly and squeezed his eyes shut. There was a beat before he swallowed thickly and pulled Growlithe into his arms. Pulling his feet onto the bench, he placed his forehead on his knees and let out a shaky breath. Michael moved his hand from his shoulder to his back, rubbing small circles into it.

Gavin let out a quiet groan and placed his hand on his forehead, looking towards the ceiling. “Bloody Jack… He didn’t need to yell at you like that.”

“I’d hardly call that yelling,” Ryan pointed out. “He had a point. That’s definitely something that he’d need to fucking tell us.”

“Yeah, but this is Ray we’re talking about!” the Photographer exclaimed, turning to face the Breeder. “You know, Ray with the anxiety disorder and who tried to hide it from us when he was sick and tried to hide the anxiety disorder in general? He told us that he can’t do certain things sometimes. This is probably one of them!”

George and Dan sent each other awkward looks and stood up.

“Uh… I don’t think this is something we need to be around for,” Dan pointed out. “I’m going to go head back to the gym. Need to set up for our battle tomorrow, Geoff. I’ll pick up my Pokemon tomorrow.”

“And I’ve got a shift soon. Don’t wanna be late for that. I’ve got one all day tomorrow, too, so I probably won’t be able to make it to the gym battle. Sorry, Geoff.” George looked at Gavin. “Can we talk tonight? Just you and I?”

Raising an eyebrow, the older Free cocked his head at an angle and nodded. “Alright… Uh, yeah, sure, I guess.”

Dan stepped over to Ray and gently placed a hand on his head. “Hey…”

The youngest lifted his head and furiously wiped at his eyes before looking up at the gym leader. “Huh?”

“It’ll be alright, kid,” he reassured with a soft smile. “It’s just a little hurt. Nothing to worry about, yeah?” With that, he ruffled his hair, turned, and walked out of the Pokemon Center, George right behind him. As soon as they were out, Ray shut his eyes again and replaced his head to where it had been, his shaking increasing just a bit.

Gavin turned to Ryan. “Hey, speaking of gym battles, what do you want to bet for Geoff’s?”

The Breeder was silent for a moment. “I think five’s a good number, don’t you?”

“Alright! But make sure it’s _quid_ , and not _squids_ , alright, Ry?”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever.”

There were a couple of beats before Jack walked back over to the Achievement Hunters, a sigh letting itself out of the ginger. “For Mew’s sake, Ray,” he breathed, “Why can’t you just talk to us? Especially on things like this.”

“He’s got an anxiety disorder, Jack,” Gavin repeated. “How many times have we got to go over that?”

“Well, a mental disorder’s no excuse for not giving us fucking important medical information!”

Ryan glared at him and stood up. “Alright, while I agree with you that he should have told us, you’ve got no right to say what mental disorders can and can’t let you do!” He jabbed a finger towards him. “Just because you can do something perfectly fine doesn’t mean that he can!”

Jack opened his mouth to respond, but Geoff quickly got up and stood between the two. “Alright, calm the fuck down, both of you!” he snapped. He then lowly added, “If you keep this up, you’re going to send Ray into a panic attack, and that’s the last thing he needs right now. Calm your fucking dicks, assholes.”

The younger Gents shot each other one final glare before stepping away with a huff. Jack was quick to leave the Pokemon Center, grumbling something about going back to the house. Gavin shot the others an annoyed look and hurried after him.

“Maybe we should head back, too,” Geoff suggested with a sigh. “It’s been a long day.”

Michael nodded, standing up. “That sounds like a fucking great idea. Ray, do you want me to go get your Pokemon for you?”

Pulling up his head and rubbing at his eyes again, the youngest shrugged. “I-I mean, if you’d be willing to and if it’s not a problem…”

Ryan waved his hand, cutting him off. “I’ll get them for you. I was actually planning on shopping for some fabric for that costume contest on Friday. Do you want to come with me, Ray?”

As Growlithe slipped out of his arms, Ray sat quietly, clearly having a million thoughts running through his mind. There was a beat, and then the dark haired looked up at him with a weak smile and nodded.

“Sure,” he answered. He slowly put his legs back down and swallowed thickly; Ryan gave him a sympathetic smile before looking at the other two.

“We’ll catch up with you later,” he stated. Leaning in closer, he quietly added, “I’ll try to keep his mind off of stuff for a while, but I might try to talk to him about it. Find out what he’s thinking about it, you know.”

“Sounds like a good idea. How long do you guys think you’ll be out?” Geoff asked.

Ryan shrugged, running a hand through his hair. “Oh, I dunno. Maybe a couple of hours? It shouldn’t be too long. I know what I’m doing for it, and I made a pattern last night, so I just need to get the fabric.”

“What are you going to do?” Michael questioned.

“You’ll have to wait and see,” the Breeder slyly replied. Before anyone had the chance to reply, he turned and stalked off towards the counter. Michael and Geoff shot each other worried looks, then sent them to Ray.

“Good luck with him, buddy,” Geoff commented.

Michael raised a hand to wave. “Make sure he doesn’t kill you and leave your body in an alley!”

Growlithe leapt onto the Ranger’s shoulder, and with that, the two turned and left the Pokemon Center. As soon as they were outside, Geoff let out a sigh and put his hands behind his head. The Lad raised an eyebrow at him.

“What’s with you?”

The oldest shrugged. “That situation with Quilava’s just got me a little worried, especially with the way Ray and Jack were acting about it. It sounded pretty fucking serious, if you ask me.”

“But Dan said that it wasn’t anything to be worried about,” Michael reminded. “And he was there when Nurse Joy told Ray about it. It can’t be _that_ bad.”

Geoff pressed his lips together tightly. “I don’t know. Fire Type gym leaders have a tendency to under react as dicks over things, and I wouldn’t drop this out of that stereotype.”

Michael rolled his eyes. “Fucking give me a break. What Fire Type gym leaders have you seen doing that?”

“Blaine from Kanto under reacted about everything except gym battles. He made puns over the most serious fucking things. Flannery from Hoenn was all about having fun, even though she was a brand new gym leader at the time I was fighting her. Most gym leaders are serious as dicks when they’re just starting out. Chili from Unova was hyper as fuck, but his attention was mostly on the way Pokemon moved, and he was just evaluating them on their beauty. Plus he only really focused on the girls watching rather than the battle itself.” He looked at Michael with a done expression. “If Dan’s the same way, I wouldn’t be surprised in the slightest. All gym leaders are the same.”

The Ranger frowned. “Are you kidding? The Fire Type gym leader in Almia freaks the fuck out about everything!” he exclaimed. “She’s, like, the most tense lady I’ve ever fucking met! Her Charmeleon literally just ran down the street and around the corner, and she immediately called all of the Rangers in the area to help look for it! She fucking passed out as soon as she told us it was gone!”

As Growlithe barked proudly, Geoff hesitated. “…Alright, then she’s the exception. That doesn’t mean that Dan doesn’t under react. Besides, why does your Growlithe sound so happy about that?”

Michael reached up to pet it. “Fiametta’s Arcanine is Growlithe’s mother,” he explained. “Actually, Fiametta freaked the fuck out about Growlithe becoming my partner Pokemon, too. She made me battle her just to prove that it’d be okay with me.”

“And did you win?”

The auburn haired reached into his back pocket, pulling out a pin that was almost a triangle, but the top was flat. It was a dark brown with yellow stripes descending to the bottom and a small, red oval at the top. He proudly held it out to the Pokemon Trainer, smirking.

“Fuck yeah, I did! Only gym badge I’ve ever won. You’re looking at the proud owner of a Spicilia Badge!”

Geoff hummed and brought his hands back down, pointing one at the younger. “Oh yeah? Well, at this time tomorrow, you’ll be looking at the proud owner of a Sigma Badge!”

“We’ll see about that,” Michael replied slyly. “Come on, we’d better get back soon or else Jack’s gonna hound you about getting some rest.”

“He’s gonna do that anyway.”

 

* * *

 

 

The next morning was short; mostly everyone got up quickly, with the exception of Ryan and Ray, who slept in until they were just about to leave. As soon as those two were dressed and ready to go, the group had left. Geoff sprinted his way to the gym, and he got there in time to have to wait about five extra minutes for the others. Despite the wait, they all had soon made their way into the bleachers, and the two battlers were eagerly awaiting the start.

“The Gubbin City Gym’s next Pokémon battle is about to begin! Dan’s challenger today is Geoff from Dirtbag Town! Each Trainer will have the use of three Pokémon, and the battle will only be over when one Trainer loses all three. Only the challenger may switch out his Pokémon.”

Aulis turned his head to look at Dan, but he was cut off when the door of the gym opened. Everyone turned to look, and the girl standing in the entrance took a hesitant step back.

“Ah, shit, sorry,” Hilda said. “I was gonna ask if you were busy, Dan, but I guess I’ve got my question answered…”

“Miss Hilda!” Gavin cried from the bleachers.

The purple haired looked up and smiled. “Oh, it’s you guys! So _this_ is where you’ve run off to for the past couple of days!”

The Photographer nodded, moving from his spot between Ray and Jack to the end. “Here, come sit with us! Watch Geoff’s battle! I haven’t had bugger all time to talk with you since we were at Ozpin Gardens!”

Hilda raised an eyebrow. “I dunno… Will it be long? I need to get back to work soon,” she pointed out.

“You’ve got nothing to worry about!” Geoff exclaimed, throwing her a thumbs up. “This battle’s only gonna take a few fucking minutes!”

“Yeah, only a few minutes before you get your arse kicked in!” Dan hollered confidently.

“In your fucking dreams, kid!”

Letting out a sigh, Hilda smiled and walked towards the bleachers. “Fine, but if it goes over ten minutes, I’ll have to go, understand?”

Once she was sat next to Gavin, Dan looked to Aulis and nodded.

“Alright, I think we’re good to go.”

The referee nodded. “I take it you’re ready, then?”

“Of course I am!”

“Geoff?”

“Fucking one hundred percent!”

“Great! Then, battle begin!”

Both the Trainer and the Gym Leader pulled out their PokeBalls at the same time, throwing them to the field in perfect sync.

“Houndour, go!”

“Luxio!”

The two Pokemon landed across from each other and growled as soon as they made eye contact. Geoff smirked and held out his hand.

“Let’s not procrastinate one fucking bit!” he yelled. “Luxio, Thunderbolt!”

Immediately, the Spark Pokemon launched the electricity towards the Dark Pokemon. The Fire Type stayed in its spot, waiting for instruction.

“Dodge it, then use Ember!”

Houdour leapt out of the way just in time before shooting the small flames out of its mouth. Without even needing instruction, Luxio jumped into the air to avoid the attack.

Geoff grinned. “Nicely done! Go after it with Spark now!”

“Avoid it and use Bite!”

“Let it grab you!”

Ray sat up straight. “Wh- Wh- What the fuck?!” he screeched. “What the fuck is he doing?! He’s gonna hurt it!”

Michael raised his eyebrows, crossing his arms with a smirk. “He is one smart mother fucker,” he laughed.

The younger Trainer whipped around to look at the Ranger. “What the fuck are you talking about?! How the fuck is that smart?!”

“Mmm, Michael’s right,” Ryan pointed out. “Once Houndour’s got Luxio in its hold, it’ll be easier to pass the electricity to it. The attack’ll be just that much stronger then since it doesn’t have to go through the air.”

Gavin looked at Hilda. “How the hell would that make it stronger?”

Hilda opened her mouth to reply, but was distracted by the actions on the field. Houndour sunk its teeth into one of Luxio’s front legs as the Spark Pokemon stood its ground.

“Now!” Geoff yelled.

Bright blue electricity lit up the room, and the Dark Pokemon flinched hard enough to let go. It stumbled back with a pained whimper.

Jack sent the opponent Pokemon a pained look. “Aw, poor thing! That sounded like it hurt!”

“Well, yeah, that’s kind of the point,” Michael pointed out. “It _is_ a fucking Pokemon Battle, after all.”

Dan held out his hand. “Use Ember again!”

“Dodge it, then Thunderbolt!”

The flames shot out of Houndour’s mouth again, and Luxio leapt out of the way, rolling through the orange dust and causing a small cloud to form. It rolled onto its feet before crouching and launching the golden electricity out of its fur and towards the Fire Type. There was no time to call out anything before the attack hit its target. Houndour crumpled to the ground within seconds.

The gym leader paused. “Houndour, you alright?” he called over.

Slowly but surely, the Dark Pokemon pulled itself back onto its feet. Swaying a little, it turned its head and gave a short nod. Its Trainer grinned and pointed to Luxio.

“Great! Then use Bite!”

Geoff threw out his hand. “You use it too, Luxio!”

The two Pokemon dashed towards each other, teeth bared and ready to clamp down. They jumped into the air in the same instant and grabbed the other’s back leg.

Ryan looked over towards Jack to point something out, but he stopped when he saw the Ranger sat on the other side of the Pokemon Doctor. The oldest Lad had his hands in front of his face, a grimace obvious on his features. Growlithe was pawing at his stomach softly, whimpering as quietly and gently as it could. The Breeder raised an eyebrow cautiously.

“Michael, you okay?”

The others turned their attention to the auburn haired, who snapped his gaze up before sheepishly nodding, a blush crawling onto his face.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” he replied softly.

Jack gently put a hand on the younger’s shoulder. “Are you hurt? What’s wrong?”

“Is it about the Bite attack?” Gavin asked. “What’s your problem with those? You flinched at that during Ray’s battle, too!”

“It just fucking caught me off guard, okay?!” Michael suddenly snapped. “I’m fucking fine, alright? Just focus on the Mew damn battle!”

Arceus seemed to bless the Ranger in that moment, because there was a _thud_ coming from the battle field, which did what he’d asked and brought everyone’s attention back to the Pokemon. The two opponents, still with each other’s limbs in their mouths, were finally on the ground. Houndour was pinned underneath Luxio, to which Geoff grinned cockily at.

“Fucking fantastic!” he cheered. “Luxio, Spark!”

Electricity shot through the two, and the charge was so forceful that a could of dust exploded around them. Before it could clear, Luxio rolled out of the side, giving Geoff a proud nod.

Dan frowned. “Houndour?”

When the dust finally cleared, the Dark Pokemon was laying on the ground, body void of all movement. Geoff felt his heart stop in his chest, and a small gasp filled his lungs.

“I-Is it…?”

“Houndour is unable to battle! Luxio is the winner!”

The sharp announcement caused Geoff to flinch out of his thoughts, but his eyes stayed on the opponent Pokemon. Just before Dan returned it to its PokeBall, he saw its chest rising just a little; relief coursed through his body, and he nearly fell to his knees as a sigh fell out of him. Then, just as quickly as he’d frozen, he snapped back up to attention and looked at Luxio.

“Nice job. Think you can handle a couple more?” he asked.

The Spark Pokemon nodded, returning the smile it was offered. The two then turned to look at Dan as he pulled out another PokeBall.

“It’s your turn, Ponyta!”

The Fire Horse Pokemon landed on the ground in front of Luxio, staring it down easily. Luxio glared back up at it, but the angered look quickly turned into one of cockiness.

Ray glanced between the two over and over before running a hand through his hair. “I hope Ponyta does better than Houndour did,” he said, a bit louder than he’d intended. “Except Dan said that Houndour’s his strongest Pokemon. Do you think he even has a chance?”

Jack glared at the youngest. “Hey, who’s side are you on?” he snapped.

“Yeah, what the fuck, man, we’re here for Geoff!” Michael added.

Ray jumped, and his face flushed as he stammered out, “I- I- I know! But I also want Dan to win, because, you know, he’s Dan!”

“Mew damn,” Ryan sighed, “You’re starting to sound like Gavin…”

“What?! What’s that supposed to mean?!”

“It means you’re a dumb fuck, idiot!” Michael called over.

“No, I’m not!” Gavin screeched in defense.

Hilda started to laugh. “You’re kidding, right? You’re probably the dumbest person in this town!”

Gavin let out a sound of disappointment, while most of the others laughed. Ray kept his eyes on the field, trying to decide who he really _did_ want to win.

Back in the battle, Geoff threw his hand out. “Let’s get this shit going! Luxio, Thunderbolt!”

“Block it with Ember!”

The two moves crashed together in the middle of the field, causing a bit of smoke to rise towards the ceiling. After a moment where they were at equal strength, the Ember attack faulted, and the Thunderbolt broke through. Ponyta stumbled back from the shock, but it shook it off and stood its ground once more.

Ray grinned and threw his fist into the air. “That was so cool!” he cheered, causing both Ryan and Jack to flinch at the volume. “I’ve never seen anything like that before! Luxio’s gotta be so fucking strong!” His grin suddenly disappeared, and his arm quickly fell. “No, wait, shit, that means that Dan’s probably going to lose, though!”

“You do realize that someone’s going to have to lose, right?” Jack pointed out with a laugh.

The youngest frowned and groaned. “Shit, you’re right…”

The Pokemon Doctor chuckled and looked back to the field.

“You’re alright, Ponyta, yeah?” Dan hollered. Once he got a nod, he smiled. “Great! Then use Flame Wheel!”

The flames poured through its mouth, forming a wheel around the Fire Horse Pokemon, and it began to speed towards Luxio. The Spark Pokemon crouched while waiting for its next command.

“Jump out of the way!”

Luxio leapt to the side, and when Ponyta turned and continued charging towards it, it flung itself to the ground and rolled away.

Geoff grinned and swiped his hand to to the side. “Fuckin’ smooth as dick butter! Now, while it’s turned away, use Spark!”

The black and blue Pokemon shot the blue electricity towards the tan just as the flames split apart; the attack hit it directly on its back, and it screeched as it fell to its knees.

“Ponyta!” Dan yelled.

“Use Bite while it’s still down!”

“Move!”

As Luxio lunged at the Fire Type, it began to push itself back onto its hooves. It was about halfway up when the Electric Type’s teeth shoved into where its front leg connected with its body. Ponyta stiffened and stood up straight, yelling out in pain.

Dan winced, but held out a hand regardless and called, “Try to hit it with an Ember attack!”

“Hold onto it, Luxio, but try to dodge it!”

Ray watched nervously from the stands as Ponyta tipped its head down and shot the small flames out of its mouth; Luxio turned its body just enough to make the attack miss, and its new angle gave Ray the view of beads of blood quickly dripping down the Fire Horse Pokemon’s leg.

The youngest gasped and shot to his feet. “G-Geoff, stop, you’re hurting it!” he yelled. “Let it go!”

Ryan began to hum next to him, but he ignored it in favor of staring down at the older Trainer. He heard the others reacting, such as Hilda cursing at the sight, Gavin gasping, and Michael letting out an uncharacteristic whimper, but by far the worst reaction was seeing Geoff look over. Ray almost flinched, too, when he watched the pure panic explode in his eyes.

“Shit, shit, shit! Luxio, stop!” he screeched, voice cracking.

As soon as the Electric Type dropped to the ground, Ponyta let out a pained cry and did the same. Dan rushed over to his fallen Pokemon and gently stroked its nose as he looked over the wound.

Geoff was about to run over, too, but Dan held out a hand before he got too close.

“Don’t,” he firmly said. “I don’t want to freak Ponyta out right now.”

Jack placed his hands gently on Ray’s shoulders as he stood up. After giving the dark haired a sympathetic look, he turned his gaze to the gym leader. “Do you need me to come have a look at it?” he asked. “I’m a Pokemon Doctor, so I would probably be able to tell you how bad it is.”

“Aren’t you still in training, though?” Gavin pointed out. Ryan glared at him and slapped his shoulder to shut him up.

“It’s against the rules, anyways,” Dan informed. “Third paragraph in chapter two of the rule book. ‘No one aside from the competitors and their Pokemon are allowed on the field during a battle. Should this rule be broken, the battle does not count, and the challenger will not get a badge even if he or she is to win’.”

Michael frowned. “’He or she’? Why didn’t they just write ‘they’? That would keep the non-binaries in the mix…”

Hilda looked at him. “The whats?” she asked. “What the hell is a ‘non-binary’?”

“Is this really the fucking time to be talking about the issues of gender equality?!” Geoff snapped, glaring up at the two. “Arceus…”

With a frown, Dan pulled out his PokeBall and looked at Aulis. “It’s done,” he said. “I don’t want it to battle any more when it’s got an injury like this.”

Aulis nodded and held out his hands. “Ponyta is unable to battle! Luxio is the winner!”

Geoff stayed still, a dim look etched on his face. Luxio turned to him cautiously and quietly _woofed_ , but its Trainer quickly looked to the ground and pulled out its PokeBall.

“Luxio, come back,” he softly ordered. The red beam shot out and pulled the Electric Type back, and as soon as he put the PokeBall away, he pulled out another and looked back up. He waited for Dan to make it back to his spot before letting the younger send out his Pokemon first.

“Fennekin, you’re up!”

The Fox Pokemon landed and looked at Geoff with puppy dog eyes; the oldest rolled his eyes.

“Oh, give me a fucking break. Vulpix, go!”

He threw his PokeBall, and the Fire Type landed directly in front of Fennekin with a growl. Fennekin turned its head slightly, staring at it innocently, before a glare formed on its features and it crouched.

Ryan crossed his arms. “It looks like this is going to be a rivalry,” he pointed out.

Jack sat down, nodding. “Well, considering it’s two Fox Pokemon against each other… You know?” he pointed out with a laugh.

Noticing he was the only one standing, Ray forced his knees to bend, and he sat back next to Jack. Tentatively, he grabbed the hem of his sweatshirt and looked at Ryan.

“Didn’t Geoff say he _wasn’t_ going to use Vulpix?” he asked. “What do you think made him change his mind?”

With a deep breath, Ryan shook his head. “I couldn’t tell you,” he answered. “Maybe he just didn’t want to use Stantler…?”

Back on the field, Geoff held out his hand. “Vulpix, use Quick Attack!”

Geoff’s Pokemon jumped back a few feet before darting forward, dashing from side to side.

“Dodge it!”

Fennekin leapt to the side and rolled before landing perfectly on its feet. It crouched and growled lowly.

“Now use Ember!” Dan commanded.

“Let it hit you!”

“What?!” Hilda exclaimed. “Why is he letting it…?!”

As the small flames shot from Fennekin’s mouth, Vulpix stood still. The attack came close to it, but then it slowed to a stop. Vulpix glowed just a little bit, and then the Ember attack faded until it was gone.

“Of course!” Ryan suddenly yelled. “Vulpix has the ability of Flash Fire! Mew damn, Geoff is one strategic mother fucker!”

Hilda let out a noise of understanding. “That was such a good idea, especially with Fennekin,” she said. “Fennekin’s ability is Blaze, plus its move set is only Fire Type moves!”

“Wait, what’s Flash Fire?” Michael asked.

“It’s an ability,” Ray explained quietly. “When a Pokemon uses a Fire Type move on a Pokemon who’s ability is Flash Fire, the one who has Flash Fire has its attack go up. So since Fennekin just used Ember on Vulpix, Vulpix’s attack went up, so now it’s a lot stronger!”

“And, since Fennekin only knows Fire Type moves, Geoff’s pretty much guaranteed to win!” Gavin added.

Dan cursed loudly and glared at Vulpix. “Damn it, now what do we do?!”

“You let your little ass get beaten to the floor!” Geoff cheered. “Vulpix, Quick Attack again!”

This time, with a well-deserved smirk, Vulpix darted towards Fennekin and slammed into its side. As the smaller tumbled away, Dan frowned and crossed his arms.

“Dan, are you giving up already?” Gavin called down. “You’ve still got an entire battle left!”

The dark haired stared at him, holding out his arms with a raised eyebrow. “What the bloody hell do you want me to do?” he asked. “I don’t have any attacks that’ll damage it!”

Gavin leapt to his feet and balled his hand into a fist in front of his face. “You just gotta keep on keepin’ on, Daniel! Never give up!”

“There’s nothing to ‘keep on’! I’m gonna bloody lose no matter what!”

“He’s right, Gavin!” Geoff pointed out with a grin. “And let’s make sure it’s fucking fast as dicks! Vulpix, Ember!”

The small flames shot into Fennekin’s face, and it stumbled back, sneezing little ashes everywhere. Dan sighed.

“Fennekin, I’m so sorry.”

“Quick Attack, one more time!”

Vulpix slammed into Fennekin once again, and it skidded through the dust until it slid to a stop right next to Aulis. He glanced at it before holding his arm towards Geoff.

“Fennekin is unable to battle! Vulpix is the winner! Therefore, the victory goes to the challenger, Geoff!”

Vulpix jumped up and cheered, while Geoff simply grinned and pulled his hand into a fist.

“I knew we’d get it. Nice job, Vulpix!”

It purred in response, and then Geoff put it back into its PokeBall. Once Dan had done the same with Fennekin, he motioned for the older to follow him, and they headed into the back room. The last thing Ray heard coming from either of them was Geoff saying, “Look, I’m really sorry about what happened with Ponyta.”

The rest of the group got up and began making their way outside, but Ray stayed seated for just a moment longer. He looked around, trying to memorize every part of the gym as quickly as he could. His eyes trailed from the bleachers he was sat in, to the walls, to the high ceilings, to the dusty battle field, to the furnaces on the other side of the room, to where Ryan was staring at him and beckoning him to follow them, to the burns on the walls-

The youngest quickly got up and scurried over to the rest of the group, and together, they headed outside to wait for Geoff to return with his badge.

 

* * *

 

 

Leaning over the back of the couch, Gavin watched as Geoff polished the badge in his hand. “But Mew damn, was that battle quick,” he stated, continuing the conversation they’d been having for the past twenty minutes. “It almost seemed unfair!”

“Yeah, and I’ll admit that using Vulpix probably was a dick move,” Geoff sighed, “But I wasn’t really thinking at that point. I just pulled out whatever Pokemon felt right, and Vulpix just felt right.”

“Ohhh, so you’re a gut battler?” Ryan inquired. “My girlfriend’s the same way. She doesn’t usually battle, though, so I’m not sure if that counts.”

Gavin looked at him. “What _does_ your girlfriend do, Ry?”

“A lot of different things,” he informed. “She cooks somethin’ awesome, she can act like there’s no tomorrow, she’s really good with memorizing shit, she can kick your ass in a Pokemon Battle _and_ in a Pokemon Contest… But her profession is helping Professor Rowan at his lab. She’s a researcher. Her main job is to look after the Pokemon that they’re researching.”

Michael hummed. “That’s a huge fucking variety of things,” he pointed out. “Sounds like you’ve landed someone who can do pretty much everything. That’s a great fucking trait to have!”

Jack snorted. “Poor Griffon, then,” he stated.

As the others began to laugh, Geoff looked up and set the badge and the cloth on his lap. “And what the fuck is that supposed to mean?”

“You’re not exactly the most talented person, Geoff,” Michael laughed. “You can battle and write on the signs of Pokemon Gyms, and that’s pretty much it.”

A giggle broke through Gavin. “Man, Dan was absolutely _pissed_ when he walked out and saw you guys signing it. Did you see his face? It was bloody hilarious!”

“I can do more than that!” Geoff exclaimed, ignoring Gavin’s statement.

Ryan crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow, leaning back in his chair. “Oh, really? Prove it.”

Geoff glared and sat forward. “I can cook, asshole. You know that.”

“Oh, wow, you know how to fucking survive,” Michael remarked. “ _Obviously_ you’re the most talented man on the planet. Our mistake.”

“Fine! I’ll fucking _prove_ that I can do more than just battle!” he yelled.

Ray stared up at Geoff curiously from his spot on the floor. “How’re you gonna do that?” he asked quietly.

Geoff pointed at him. “I’ll tell you how!” He then directed his finger towards Ryan. “I’m gonna enter that fucking costume contest tomorrow!”

Ryan barked out a laugh. “You’re fucking joking, right? You can’t enter a costume contest with less than 24 hours before hand! There’s too much to do! You gotta find the pattern, find the right fabric, cut it out…”

“You’re doing all that for a tiny little costume contest?” Gavin asked. “Bloody hell. I’m just wearing a t-shirt and some sunglasses.”

“You’re wearing a t-shirt and sunglasses for a costume contest?!”

“It’s efficient!”

“How the hell is that efficient?!”

Geoff stood up, cutting the Breeder and Photographer off. “Alright! If Gavin’s wearing jeans and a t-shirt for this, then so am I! I’m going into town to buy some shit!” he quickly informed. He then turned and began to hurry to the door, but Jack hurried and got up to follow.

“Hold on, I don’t want you going alone.”

The older Trainer groaned. “Come on, Jack, I’m not six…” Regardless, he walked out of the house and left the door open for the Pokemon Doctor. The ginger cast the others a glance, rolled his eyes, and followed.

As soon as the door shut, Gavin hopped over the back of the couch, causing Ray to flinch with how sudden it was. The older laughed and looked between Ryan and Ray.

“So, where did you two end up going last night to get the fabric?” he asked.

The Trainer and Breeder looked at each other and smiled. “Eh, you know… Places,” Ryan slyly replied.

Michael frowned. “…What kind of places?”

“The place-y kind,” Ray answered.

The two smiled at the others, the images of where they went racing through their minds as the night went on and the journey continued.

%MCEPASTEBIN%

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the read! Hope you enjoyed!!
> 
> Someone come talk to me about the RvB Season Finale. I'm dying on the inside. And, yes, of course I'm going to reference that speech some time later in this fic. Why wouldn't I?
> 
> Ryan's song this chapter: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=moSFlvxnbgk
> 
> [Comfort Ray Button]  
> [Comfort Michael Button]  
> [Comfort Geoff Button]  
> [Comfort Dan Button]


	29. Ray and Ryan's Day Out!!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A look into Ray and Ryan's time together the afternoon before Geoff's gym battle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beacon Region Map: http://sweetiecurfyart.tumblr.com/post/111232399174/here-it-is-a-map-of-the-beacon-region-used
> 
> Art will be posted: sweetiecurfyart.tumblr.com  
> Follow me on Twitter under @Sweetie_Curfy  
> Support me on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/sweetiecurfy?ty=h

“Sounds like a good idea. How long do you guys think you’ll be out?” Geoff asked.

Ryan shrugged, running a hand through his hair. “Oh, I dunno. Maybe a couple of hours? It shouldn’t be too long. I know what I’m doing for it, and I made a pattern last night, so I just need to get the fabric.”

“What are you going to do?” Michael questioned.

“You’ll have to wait and see,” the Breeder slyly replied. Before anyone had the chance to reply, he turned and stalked off towards the counter. Michael and Geoff shot each other worried looks, then sent them to Ray.

“Good luck with him, buddy,” Geoff commented.

Michael raised a hand to wave. “Make sure he doesn’t kill you and leave your body in an alley!”

Growlithe leapt onto the Ranger’s shoulder, and with that, the two turned and left the Pokemon Center. As soon as they were outside, Ray anxiously looked to where Ryan had gone off to. The Breeder was speaking to Nurse Joy, but soon enough, he gave her a small wave and came back to the youngest.

“I’ve got them,” he announced quietly. He handed the PokeBalls to the Trainer before offering a hand to pull him to his feet. As soon as he was up, the older threw an arm around his shoulder and began to lead them to the door.

Once the doors were shut behind them, Ray looked up at him. “Where are we gonna go to get fabric?” he asked.

Ryan shrugged. “I don’t know yet. I just kind of figured we could look around Gubbin for a while until we found something. I mean, they’ve got to have at least one store if they have an annual costume contest, you know?”

Ray hummed and nodded. “Okay.”

“We should probably get something to eat while we’re out here, too,” he suggested. “Gavin was saying something yesterday morning about this restaurant that he, Dan, Hilda, and George would go to before football games when they were in school. Maybe we should check it out.”

“Didn’t we already go there, though?” the dark haired asked. “That was Miss Audra’s bakery, wasn’t it?”

Ryan shook his head. “No, it wasn’t that. It was… Uh…” He paused, frowning. “Damn it, I can’t remember the name… Well, whatever, I’ll remember it when I see it.”

Pulling away from Ryan’s arm, Ray looked away at the passing shops. “Are we going there first, then?”

“Do you want to?”

The younger shrugged quickly. “I-I didn’t mean- I mean, I don’t- I…”

The light haired held up his hands and stopped walking. “Whoa, breathe, kid! It’s just a question. We don’t have to go yet, if you don’t want.”

Ray bit his lip and turned his gaze to the ground. “I don’t care,” he replied. “Whatever you want to do is fine.”

Ryan hummed and looked around. “Well, then… Let’s look for some fabric stores. Might as well get that out of the way, right?”

They began to walk down the street again in silence; Ryan stuffed his hands into his pockets and kept his eyes on the stores they were walking by. Ray let his eyes do the same, but on the other side of the street. After a few minutes, the younger suddenly turned to the Breeder.

“You grew up in Sinnoh, didn’t you?” he asked quietly.

Ryan paused at the randomness of the question, but nodded regardless. “Yeah, in Canalave City, where the Steel Type gym is. Why?”

“Do they have botiques and stuff like Kalos does?”

“Well… I mean, we have them,” he answered, “But they’re not a lot like the ones in Kalos. You can’t just pay for your clothes while your wearing them and walk out. You could only try them on, kind of like here, and then buy them once they were _off_ of your body. There were no changing rooms in the Pokemon Centers, either, except in Sunyshore City. There’s a huge beach there, so it makes sense that the Pokemon Center there would have one.”

Ray kind of wanted to ask when Ryan had gone to Kalos; the older had told him before that he’d only traveled through Hoenn and Kanto, so that couldn’t be an option. But then he remembered that maybe Ryan had gone for the same reason Ray had when he was younger, and that it probably wasn’t his business in the first place. So he stayed silent.

Ryan turned to Ray. “Wait, when were you ever in Kalos? This _is_ your first journey, isn’t it?”

The younger stumbled over his words for a minute. “I- Uh-” He swallowed thickly and looked at the ground. “M-My dad took me there for a vacation when I was little. I think I was, like, five? Five or six. Mom didn’t come because she had a lot of work that week, but he didn’t seem that upset because he said it could be bonding time between us. We went to Lumiose and that town with the beaches and the Rock Type gym, and that other town with a huge sun dial and colored glass floors in the gym. It was a lot of fun!”

Humming, the Breeder looked back to the stores. “It sounds like you guys went to Cyllage City and Anistar City. We went to Anistar when I went a long time ago with my advanced history class. We went to Lumiose, too, and Camphrier Town and Geosenge Town. I think I liked that one the most.”

Ray smiled. “I really liked Lumiose a lot. We got to ride on the Skiddo, and I remember really having a lot of fun with that. My dad’s favorite was Anistar, just because of sun dial. He was really interested in clocks. He helped the gym leader evolve one of her Pokemon so she could use it in the gym, too! I think it was a Slowking…?”

Ryan laughed. “Your dad sounds like a good guy, Ray.”

A laugh broke through the Trainer’s voice; despite this, he felt his eyes starting to prickle, and a lump rapidly forming in his throat. Swallowing it back, he nodded. “He sure is.”

There was a beat. “Do you miss him at all?”

“More than you could imagine,” he quietly replied.

There were a few more moments of silence, but then Ryan perked up and pointed down the street. “There we go! A craft store! They’ve probably got fabric in there, and even if they don’t, surely they’ll have buttons and stuff!”

“Do you want to go there first, then?” Ray asked.

“Absolutely! Come on, let’s go.”

They hurried down the street and to the shop, pushing through the doors within minutes. Ryan’s eyes widened as soon as he saw the aisles lining the walls in seemingly endless manner. He slowly looked to Ray, who had a similar expression on his face, and waited for the younger to look back. Once he had done so, they both turned back and started glancing at each of the aisles.

“…Where do we even start?” Ray mumbled.

Ryan smirked. “The very beginning. It’s a very good place to start.”

Raising an eyebrow, Ray looked at him. “What?”

The older shook his head. “Nevermind. How about we start down there?”

Ray nodded, and the two began to walk towards the end of the store. When they were about halfway there, the younger suddenly stopped and looked down one of the aisles. Ryan paused and turned around once he noticed he was alone.

“Did you find something?” he asked.

Ray gave him a glance before turning towards the items and back. “I’m going to go look at these picture frames for a minute,” he informed, pointing down the aisle. “Is that okay?”

“Sure,” Ryan answered. “What is it?”

“They’re picture frames,” Ray cheerfully stated. With that, he stepped in and began to look at them. Ryan followed at a slower pace.

The frames on the shelves started off simple; many were just various types of wood arranged into rectangular shapes. The further they went down, however, the more interesting they got. Some frames had designs carved into them, some were stained to be different colors, and some were arranged into shapes other than rectangles. As they neared the end of the aisle, the frames became plastic and vibrant. Many of them had cheesy engravings on them, such as “FAMILY” or “FRIENDSHIP”. Some even had places on them for more pictures.

As Ray was looking at a green frame with black polka dots, Ryan leaned against the shelf.

“What do you want a picture frame for?” he asked. “You know that if you’re traveling, a picture frame’s not the wisest thing to be carrying around, right?”

“I know,” Ray sighed. “I was thinking about getting one for my mom. She really loves to put pictures around our house. I was going to ask Gavin if he could print out a picture for her, too, and then put it in the frame and mail it to her.”

A grin melted onto Ryan’s face, and he chuckled. “Aw, Ray, that’s adorable,” he giggled. “How sweet! You’re like a little Pichu in the Johto region getting berries for its Momma Raichu, but only getting the Pecha Berries by the lake because that’s her favorite kind!”

Ray stared at him for a beat. “That was… Oddly specific.”

“Yeah, well, you know.”

The younger was silent for another minute before finally picking up the green and black frame. “I think I’m going to get this one,” he said. “Do you care if I get it?”

Ryan laughed again. “Of course not! It’s your money. You can do whatever you want with it.”

A smile split onto the younger’s face. “Okay! Thanks!”

Wondering why the hell Ray was thanking him for the permission to buy the picture frame, Ryan turned and stalked out of the aisle. Once they were at the end, he looked to his left, and then to his right.

“Now where could that fabric be…?”

As soon as Ray caught up to him, he began to quickly walk to the left. The younger hurried after him until they came across a sea of bins. Looking closer, Ryan realized that each one was filled with a different kind of button.

“Oh my _Mew_.”

Ryan was soon scrounging through the bins, looking for certain types and colors. Ray followed him as well as he could, but he was very confused about it all. As Ryan picked up two green buttons of the exact same shade from two different bins, he finally spoke up.

“What’s the difference?” he asked. “How is that button any different than that one?”

The older waved him over and held them out. “Here, look. This one has four holes, but this one only has two. See?”

Ray nodded. “Yeah? I don’t get it, though. Why have two different kinds like that?”

“They’re used for different things,” Ryan explained. “The two-holed buttons are used more for dress shirts and stuff, and that’s probably what kind I’ll get if I can find a lighter shade of green. The four-holed ones, however, are used most of the time for suit jackets.” He looked over the buttons one more time before putting the two holed back and grabbing a few more of the four-holed buttons. “That should be enough for this. Let me grab a few more buttons for the shirt and the pants, and then we can go.”

The younger nodded again, and after a few minutes, the two were walking back outside with bags in their hands. They looked around for a moment before Ryan pointed down the street.

“Let’s try this way.”

They walked for a few blocks, finding nothing that really spiked any of their interests; after a few minutes, Ray stopped and sucked in a small gasp.

“Oh, my Mew, Ryan!”

“What? What’s wrong?”

Ray pointed into the window of a shop. “Can we go in there? Please? I promise it won’t be long, just a few minutes!”

Ryan looked inside, laughing quietly to himself when he saw what was there. “Yeah, sure. Nothing bad’s ever come out of a pet store.”

With a grin, Ray hurried to the door, only pausing to wait for Ryan to catch up before eagerly going in. They walked quickly past the pet food and beds before stopping in front of a room with a glass wall between them. In the room was a bunch of small compartments, each with a small bed in it, and behind those were a lot of cat toys and scratching posts. Multiple cat Pokemon were lounging throughout the room.

Ray got onto his tiptoes and leaned against the glass to get high enough to look at a Purrloin sleeping in its bed. “They’re so cute,” he laughed.

Ryan reached up to look at the tag taped to the glass. “It says its name is Grape Soda,” he informed. “That’s a creative name.”

“Where are Purrloin from?” the younger asked. “Aren’t they from Sinnoh?”

“Nah, they’re from Unova.” He crouched down and peered through the glass, pointing to one of the Pokemon staring at them lazily from atop of a scratching post. “ _Those_ are from Sinnoh. My family had one when I was growing up, actually. Her name was Madam Slinkin Albatross Glameow, but we just called her Slinkie for short. It was easier.”

Ray got onto his knees next to the older. “That’s a Glameow, isn’t it?”

“Yeah.”

The Trainer looked around the room. “Glameow are pretty cute, but I think I like Meowth more. We used to have one when I was really little, but it ran away a couple of years after my dad and I went to Kalos.”

Ryan nodded solemnly. “I understand that. Slinkie got sick and died a few years ago, when I was in Kanto. My family _did_ get a Shieldon a couple of years later, but… It just wasn’t the same, you know?”

The dark haired sat back on his feet and looked to the floor. “…Yeah.”

They sat there for a moment, silence breaking the emotional tension that had build between them. Eventually, Ryan stood back up and turned around, stretching his arms above his head. His eye caught something through the aisles, and he barked out a laugh.

“That’s just too perfect.”

Ray looked up at him. “What is?”

Without giving him an answer, Ryan began to walk towards the other side of the store. Ray scrambled to catch up, and the next thing he knew, they were surrounded by aquatic Pokemon. The younger broke away from him to look at the Water Types in the tanks.

When he was looking at the Carvana, he felt a chin resting on his shoulder. After the initial flinch, he looked at Ryan with a raised eyebrow. The older grinned and held up a rolled-up paper.

“I got something for Gavin,” he explained. Before Ray could even begin to ask, he unraveled it.

The paper was long and laminated, and it was an oceanic scene. The sunlight poured through the surface of the water, illuminating the Pokemon underneath. Under the surface were four Inkay, two Tentacruel, one Malamar, and three Tentacool.

Ray snorted. “That’s fucking great,” he laughed. “Gavin’s gonna fucking love that.”

“Mew, I fucking hope he does. It’s supposed to go on the back of a fish tank, but I figure he could use it as a poster instead.”

Snickering, the Trainer looked back at him. “I don’t know if it’ll even fit anywhere. The walls of his bedroom are completely covered with his own pictures!”

Ryan shrugged, starting towards the check out. “Eh, he’ll figure it out. Come on, let’s get out of here. I don’t want to be around when they release the Furret into the store so they can play.”

“Are they planning on doing that?” Ray asked as he followed.

The older set the poster on the counter and turned to point; the dark haired saw a few employees unlocking the containers the Furret were in and preparing for the Pokemon to be out. He turned back to Ryan and bit his lip.

“We should probably get out of here.”

 

* * *

 

 

As they were walking down the street again, a crowd of people across the street caught Ray’s eye. He stopped walking to stare curiously over at it. He could hear a voice announcing something, almost as if whoever it was was trying to convince the crowd into doing something. Frowning, the Trainer turned his head enough to speak to Ryan, but kept his eyes on the people.

“What do you think is going on?” he questioned. Ryan was silent, so Ray just assumed he was shrugging. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a purple shirt starting to walk across the street, and he instinctively followed.

Once they were there, Ray could hear the words a lot clearer, and what he heard deepened his frown.

“…I mean, come on! How many of you are even _using_ your Pokemon, anyways? Are you doing that, or are you just keeping them locked away in their PokeBalls all day, with no freedom at all? And for those of you who _are_ using them, do you battle with them? How many times have you pushed them too far in a battle?”

Ray bit his lip, beginning to turn to Ryan. “That guy sounds a lot like-”

As he froze up, the stranger with a purple shirt looked at him with a questioning expression on his face. “Do we know each other? I’m quite sorry, I don’t recognize you if we do. Where are you from, again, lad?”

The younger’s mouth opened and shut multiple times for a few beats, until he finally squeaked out, “I- I- N-No, I don’t think so, I’m so sorry, I- I thought you were my friend, I’m really sorry…!”

“Are you alright? Would you like me to help you find your friend?” The man frowned, reaching out towards Ray, but the Trainer flinched away before he could make contact. “You’re awfully pale. Maybe you should go to the Pokemon Center?”

Ray quickly backed away. “N-No, I’m okay, I’m sorry, I can find him,” he rapidly answered.

Running a hand through his grayed hair, the man shrugged. “Alright, if you’re sure…”

The Trainer quickly ran past the man, getting out of sight from him in the crowd before realizing with absolute panic that if that _hadn’t_ have been Ryan… Where was he?

Through his suddenly racing thoughts, the words _he’s probably just down the street. Hurry after him!_ rang through. He swallowed thickly and was about to go sprinting in that direction when he heard the speaker say a handful of words that made him freeze in his tracks.

“And that’s why if you, or anyone that you know, is abusing your or their Pokemon, you need to contact Team Freelancer right away!”

The voice. The morals. The name.

_“We’re part of something called Team Freelancer,” Chris said as he walked up to stand next to Kathleen. “We take Pokémon from their abusing trainers and sell them to people who will treat them fairly.”_

_Ray raised an eyebrow. “You sell them? Isn’t that mistreating the Pokémon, too?”_

_Chris laughed nervously and scratched the back of his neck. “Well… When you put it that way…”_

_He was cut off by a slap from Kathleen. “Don’t act like that!” she snapped. “You never listen to people like them! Fucking Mew, are you ever going to learn anything?!”_

Ray felt his arm tingling at the memory. He unconsciously reached up and rubbed his finger where the attack had landed; it seemed like it had happened a lifetime ago, while at the same time only about three days. Before he knew what he was doing, he was pushing his way through the crowd, trying to see the speaker and praying he was more wrong than he’d ever been in his life.

Once he made it to the front, he bit back a gasp and swallowed thickly. If he thought his mind was racing before hand, it had nothing on how it was now.

In the middle of the crowd, standing on the chair of a restaurant’s patio, was Chris from the day after he’d met Gavin. He felt his own mouth run dry as he watched the now much more confident words pour out of the brunette’s. This time, the man was alone, but that didn’t stop him from drawing twice the attention that he had in their previous encounter.

Glancing around, Ray saw the audience guiltily stealing glances at one another. There were mumbles jumbling through the crowd until the man with the purple shirt and the white hair pushed his way through and held out a PokeBall.

“You have one bloody good point there,” he regretfully stated. “I had no idea I was even abusing my Sneasel, until now. Thank you for pointing out to me that I’ve been doing wrong this whole time. I do, however, believe that it would be in better care with you.”

Ray gasped and slapped a hand over his mouth; he felt his muscles pulling him towards the conversation, pulling him towards saving the man’s Pokemon, but his anxiety was pushing him away, yelling at him to run and get somewhere safe. The internal conflict made his stomach churn and his head swim.

Chris smirked and stepped down from the chair, holding out his hand. “Thank you very much, sir. I’m glad you see it our way. I personally will make sure that your Sneasel ends up in better hands than your own.”

The old man looked down to the PokeBall, giving it one final longing look. His mouth twitched in its frown as if he were struggling to hold back tears.

“…Bye, Sneasel. It’s for the better,” he whispered. With that, he reached forward to put the PokeBall into Chris’s hands.

Before Ray could think about what he was doing, he was leaping forward to block the transaction, shouting a bold, “No!”

The crowd gasped, and as Ray turned to face the member of Team Freelancer, it hit him just how many people were watching. It felt like there were thousands of eyes bearing down on him judgmentally. His muscles tensed, and he felt his voice flee immediately.

It took Chris a beat, but after a moment, he was glaring down at the Trainer. “You again?! I thought Kathleen and I got rid of you months ago!”

Ray slowly shook his head, subtly bringing his hand up towards his PokeBalls and trying to figure out which of his Pokemon would be the most likely to save his life if needed. Once he had his fingers brushing over Budew’s PokeBall, he swallowed hard enough to find his voice again.

“D-Did you tell these people about what you do with the Pokemon after you take them?” he asked, just loud enough for the edges of the crowd to hear.

Chris hesitated. “U-Uh… Of course!” he exclaimed. “We find them a better home. Weren’t you listening the first two times?”

“But did you say anything about _how_ you get them to their new Trainers?” His voice was just a bit louder now, for which he was thankful. It made it possible to hear himself over his own heartbeat.

The Lad then felt a hand on his shoulder, and he flinched and turned around to face the old man. “What’re you on about, boy?” the stranger asked. “What do they do with ‘em?”

Ray swallowed again. “T-They sell them,” he informed. “And then when people don’t agree to make deals with them, they attack you until you do!”

“Hey… You said the organization’s name was Team Freelancer?” asked a woman in the crowd. “I remember hearing about Salubrity Town being attacked by a Team Freelancer a while back!”

“And wasn’t there an incident with that organization in Entity City last month?” another man called out.

“I heard about Autumn City being targeted at the beginning of the year!”

Everyone in the crowd began to talk about the places they’d heard Team Freelancer had been in recent times, and with each comment, Chris became increasingly nervous. Ray bit back an apology for making him that way, and he was thankful that he did when the brunette suddenly glared down at him and stuck out a finger.

“You little piece of shit!” he exclaimed. “There’s a reason we don’t tell people about the selling!”

“It sounds like it’s because it’s horribly wrong, if I may say,” the old man interjected. “Don’t you go yelling at this kid just because he’s standing up for what’s right!”

“I’ll yell at him if I want, gramps!” Before anyone could react, Chris whipped out a PokeBall and sent out his Pokemon right in front of the Trainer and the old man.

“Now what the bloody hell do you think you’re-?!”

“Nidorina, use Scratch on the kid, and then go after the old guy!”

A loud gasp ripped through Ray, and his muscles locked. It was almost in slow motion as he watched the blue Pokemon leap up to him, claws extending; the situation was all to familiar to him. He felt tears immediately begin to well up in his eyes.

_“Sableye, go!”_

_The Trainer froze. If she was taking out a Pokémon, that could only mean…_

_“Use Scratch on the kid.”_

_His head snapped up, and he snatched Cyndaquil into his arms and turned, feeling the Ghost Pokémon’s claws rip into his upper arm. He let out a scream before he felt a pair of arms pulling him up and away._

Ray scrunched his eyes shut as tightly as he could, and a scream ripped through his lungs. His arms flew up to cover his vitals before he turned away.

“Raichu, Thunderbolt!”

“Nidorina, no!”

The crackling of electricity and the sound of a Pokemon hitting the ground was just enough to pull the Trainer’s gaze to the scene in front of him. When he peeked past his arms, he saw Nidorina’s unconscious form laying on the ground in front of a shocked Chris. The relief alone caused Ray to fall to his knees.

The next thing he knew, a pair of boots were stood in front of him, facing where Chris was. He didn’t dare look up, and he couldn’t hear much through the rushing in his ears, but he did catch little bits of what the woman in front of him was saying.

“…better leave this kid alone, because he hasn’t done anything but…”

“…only hurting yourself by being associated with an organization like…”

“…fuck off before I kick your ass into your skull!”

Ray heard the footsteps scrambling away, and then the boots turned around and the owner crouched in front of him.

“Hey, are you okay?” the woman asked. Her voice switched from harsh and strict to soft and caring in an instant, although that still wasn’t enough to calm the tremors shaking through his body.

“I- I- I’m fine,” he whimpered out, knowing fully that that was far from the truth. He felt his lungs start to need more and more air, and his heartbeat started to pick up. Another whimper slipped out when he realized what was going on.

He was going to have a panic attack in front of this huge crowd of people, and surrounded by complete strangers.

The panic began to develop even faster than it had been. The words around him began to dissolve; one of the last things that he heard was the woman shouting, “Please don’t get any closer! We need room, please! Try not to stare; that’s only going to make things worse!”

After a minute, there was one hand on his shoulder and another pulling off his glasses. Once those were off, the same hand gently lifted his chin up to look at the face of a concerned blonde woman. She gave him a gentle smile.

“Hey, can you hear me?” she asked. “Just nod if you can; you don’t need to talk if you can’t.”

Shutting his eyes again, he nodded slowly. She rubbed her thumb in circles on his shoulder and leaned in just a bit closer.

“Can you focus on me? Try to focus on me, sweetie. You can do it, come on. Try to breathe, too. I know you can do that.”

Ray shook his head. “I- I can’t,” he rasped out. “I can’t do it!”

“Yes, you can,” she replied softly. “Try to breathe with me, okay?”

She started taking exaggerated breaths, but Ray couldn’t focus. His head was swimming with fear and panic, drawing all of his thoughts away from her onto the fact that he was alone, and that he was probably going to die right here.

“I can’t…. I can’t do it!” he whimpered quietly. “I can’t do it, I’m gonna die… I’m gonna die and I don’t know where Ryan is and Quilava’s hurt and it’s my fault and Team Freelancer’s gonna come after me and they’re gonna kill me and none of my friends are gonna find me and they’re gonna freak out and I’m gonna die and my mom’s not gonna get her picture frame and…!”

The woman cut off his audible train of thought by shushing him reassuringly. “It’s okay, sweetie. I’m not going to let you die, and I certainly won’t let Team Freelancer anywhere near you when you’re in this state. We’ll find your friends. You’re not going to die. Do you understand me?”

Even though his mind was still racing and the panic was still rushing through his veins, he nodded. She smiled softly and moved her other hand onto his cheek.

“Okay, great. I still need you to breathe, though. I need you to breathe in for five, hold it for six, and breathe out for seven, okay?”

He nodded and shut his eyes, swallowing thickly. The woman started to count slowly out loud; he only made it to two before his breath escaped him. He winced.

“I- I’m sorry, I’ll try harder, I’m really sorry…”

“It’s alright,” she responded. “You made it to two! That’s better than nothing. Let’s try again, okay?”

This time, Ray managed to suck in air until she was halfway through saying “four” before the same thing happened. He started to apologize, but she shook her head.

“See? You’re doing it,” she reassured. “You’re going to be alright.”

Slowly but surely, and with the woman’s help, Ray managed to get his breath back. It took a while, but eventually, the Trainer was breathing in for five, holding his breath for six, and letting it out for seven. They repeated the process multiple times before she pulled away her hands and smiled at him.

“Are you okay now, sweetie?”

He nodded shakily. “I- I’m sorry,” he meekly replied. “I just… I don’t know. I’m sorry.”

“No need to apologize,” she said. “There’s nothing you can do to control panic attacks. I’m just glad you’re alright now.”

She stood up and held out a hand to him; he tentatively took it and repeated her action, but his knees trembled under his weight and he nearly went down again. The woman firmly held onto his arm as she handed his glasses back to him.

“Now, let’s go find your friend. Ryan, was it? I’m sure he’s not too far away. Where did you see him last?”

After a beat of thought, Ray looked around, taking note at the fact that the crowd was almost gone at this point. He looked across the street and pointed.

“Over there somewhere,” he informed. “We were going in that direction when I lost him.”

She nodded and gently pulled on his arm. “Then that’s as good a place to start looking as any.”

 

* * *

 

 

As soon as Ryan realized that Ray wasn’t at his side, he began to panic.

(Actually, now that Ryan thought about it, his panic seemed hardly enough to bat an eye at, now that he’d seen what kind of panic the younger could go through. But it was still panic, nonetheless.)

He noticed the lack-of-Trainer at what he assumed was a long time after he’d actually been gone; he’s originally just assumed that Ray had just gone quiet, and now he was kicking himself for never looking at him to make sure he was alright.

Taking in a deep breath, he shook himself out of the regret. There was nothing he could do about it now; all that he could do was look for the Lad until he was found.

He quickly walked down the street, retracing his steps and looking left and right for the dark hair and purple sweatshirt. His worry increased with every minute that he couldn’t find him, and eventually, he caught himself humming a familiar tune. Softly enough so that others couldn’t hear it, he began to continue the lyrics under his breath.

“Wishing you were somehow here again; wishing you were somehow near… Sometimes it seemed, if I just dreamed, somehow you would be here…”

Turning the corner, he let out a sharp sigh. The ideas of what was going to happen if he didn’t find Ray were starting to settle in. He was going to have to explain to the others what happened to him. He couldn’t decide if Geoff or Michael would be the first one to kill him. Whoever didn’t would probably scream at him, and rightfully so. Gavin would probably immediately jump up and run off to try and find him. Jack wouldn’t let Ryan go with someone alone ever again.

Not to mention, what would happen to Ray? Knowing him, the kid was probably scared out of his mind right now. Not only that, but how safe would he even be? His strongest Pokemon was injured; how would he protect himself if Team Freelancer or something appeared and tried to hurt him? What if he got mugged or something? Ryan cringed at the thought of losing Ray for good. That just _couldn’t_ happen. Not to Ray.

He took another deep breath. Panicking wasn’t going to help him.

“Wishing I could hear your voice again,” he whispered, “Knowing that I never would; dreaming of you won’t help me do all that you dreamed I could…”

He turned around and started heading in the opposite direction. Maybe the kid had gone somewhere else? Maybe he was searching for him, too, and had ended up somewhere else? Maybe he’d gone back to Gavin’s house, or the Pokemon Center?

There was a few more minutes of worried searching- more time than Ryan was comfortable with. He at least glanced in every store he passed, and made sure to look in every crowd he saw. This only added to the relief when he finally caught sight of someone with dark hair and a purple sweatshirt across the street a few blocks away from where they’d initially been separated.

As the largest sigh of relief escaped him, the Breeder began to sprint over, ignoring the looks of confusion coming from the others on the sidewalk.

“Ray!”

 

* * *

 

 

The Trainer turned at the sound of his name coming from the deep, familiar voice; he stopped walking to look around, causing the woman to also pause to look at him.

“Is everything okay?” she asked.

Ray hesitated. “…I thought I heard…”

“Ray!”

The voice was closer now, and Ray pulled his arm out of the woman’s grip to walk towards it. “Ryan?” he called out.

There was a flash of purple and black through the people. The younger stayed still, waiting for another confirmation that they’d actually found each other. The woman came up behind him and placed a hand on his shoulder.

“Do you think you might have found your friend?”

Before he had the chance to reply, there was a call of “ _Ray!_ ” and suddenly the Trainer was pulled into the embrace of a pair of strong arms. He immediately returned the gesture, letting his eyes fall shut in relief. Instantly, he felt the panic slipping away bit by bit.

When Ryan finally pulled away, he firmly kept his hands on the younger’s shoulders. “Are you okay? Did anything happen to you?”

Ray hesitated again, turning his gaze towards the ground. “I… Not really, no…”

A frown etched itself onto the Breeder’s face. “’Not really’? _Did_ something happen?”

“If I could intervene here,” the woman poked in, “he might have had a pretty intense panic attack earlier today. But he’s fine now, so there’s nothing to worry about, right?”

Ray looked at Ryan and nodded. “Yeah. I’m okay now!”

The Gent gave him an unconvinced look before reluctantly bringing his hands away from his shoulders. “…Alright, if you say so. I still think we should go back to Gavin’s relatively soon,” he stated. Turning to the woman, he smiled at her. “Did you help him look for me?”

She beamed and pointed her thumb to herself. “You bet I did! It wasn’t exactly a _lost_ cause, you know!”

Snorting at her own pun, she held out her hands. The two Achievement Hunters stared at her for a beat before Ray gave an awkward laugh. Ryan shook his head.

“Well, regardless of the pun, thank you. I don’t know if I would’ve found him if it wasn’t for you helping him.”

Ray stood up straighter. “Right, thank you! For everything, I mean.”

She waved her hand. “Ah, it was no problem. Like I said, it’s not like it would’ve been hard. It’s always nice to help people out, plus it’s kind of in my job description anyways.” She suddenly perked up and gasped, looking at the watch on her wrist in horror.

Ray raised an eyebrow. “I- Is everything okay?”

“Mew dammit, I’m going to be late!” she hissed. “Sorry that this was a short meeting, but I gotta run! One of my friends promised to pick me up for work from here.” The woman began to sprint down the street, turning just enough so she could wave at the two. “Glad you found your friend, sweetie! It was nice meeting you, Ryan! Maybe we can meet again someday! Maybe at like a butcher or something…”

With that, she was gone. Ray looked up at Ryan, and the older looked back. There was a beat, and then Ryan gave him a questioning look.

“You okay, or…?”

Ray bit his lip and glanced away before looking back. “Do you really think that if she hadn’t have helped us, we wouldn’t have found each other again?”

A small smile played on the edges of Ryan’s lips, and he wrapped an arm around the younger’s shoulders as he turned them to walk down the street again.

“I’m sure we would have found each other eventually,” he replied, “But I assume it would have been a lot longer. We might not have found each other until we got back to Gavin’s! But I’m sure it wouldn’t have been too terribly long. Gubbin City’s not as big as it seems.”

The Trainer hummed. “Okay.”

There were a few beats of silence, and then Ryan was letting out a gasp and pointing to a shop down the street.

“There it is!” he exclaimed. “That’s the restaurant Gavin was talking about! Why don’t we just eat now? The fabric can wait until later.”

Ray nodded, and they went inside. When they were seated at a booth, the Trainer, feeling oddly comfortable, set his elbows on the table and rested his head in his hands. It had already been a long day, and Ray could physically feel it taking its toll.

More exciting things would happen later, he assumed. He didn’t know that they were going to eat a delicious meal that put Gavin’s words to shame. He didn’t know that Ryan was going to tell him about the first time he won a battle with Exor. He didn’t know that they’d eventually end up at the fabric store, and that Ryan would take so long looking at the different kinds that Ray would sit down on the floor. He didn’t know that he was going to fall asleep in the fabric store, then magically wake up on the couch at Gavin’s to hear the others having light conversation in the dining room that would lull him back to sleep.

But for now, he was pretty okay with just sitting and being quiet. After all, if there was one thing he did know, it was that moments like these would be getting more rare as the journey continued.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the read!!
> 
> I am so sorry that this is a day late! I had a ton of homework and I kind of completely forgot that it was a Monday... Sorry!!!
> 
> In other news... Guess who's in charge of another life now!! That's right mother fuckers, this author just got themself a fish!! Woohoo!! (I'll post pictures on my Tumblr if you'd like to see him :D )
> 
> Ryan's song this chapter: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1LLtplpCW4o
> 
> EDIT: HOLY FUCK, WHEN DID WE BREAK 2000 HITS?!?!? THANK YOU GUYS!!!!
> 
> [Comfort Ray Button]  
> [Comfort Ryan Button]


	30. Costume Contest! Chaos on the Mind!!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's finally time for the Gubbin City Costume Contest, and as excited as Geoff and Gavin are, Ryan's feet are getting a little chilly...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beacon Region Map: http://sweetiecurfyart.tumblr.com/post/111232399174/here-it-is-a-map-of-the-beacon-region-used
> 
> Art will be posted: sweetiecurfyart.tumblr.com  
> Follow me on Twitter under @Sweetie_Curfy  
> Support me on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/sweetiecurfy?ty=h

Ray quietly shut the door to Gavin’s room, knowing that he and Michael were probably already asleep despite the fact that they’d been talking merely seconds ago. The rate at which the two could pass out never ceased to amaze the Trainer, especially when compared to how early they would actually attempt to go to bed. Now that he thought about it, maybe the reason that they fell asleep so quickly was _because_ they stayed up so late.

Shaking himself out of the thought, Ray turned and walked back to the staircase. If there was a slight chance that the two were awake, it’d be his luck that one of them would come to the door and open it while he was standing there, and he did _not_ want to look creepy. That was Ryan’s job.

The dark haired walked down a few steps and stopped. He furrowed his brow, seeing the Breeder sitting on the floor and sewing next to the coffee table. There were strips of green fabric surrounding him on every side, and spindles littered the table; Ray recognized the buttons next to the green thread as the ones they’d bought the other day. He frowned and leaned against the railing.

“Aren’t you done with that yet?” he asked without thinking.

Ryan flinched and yelped, pulling his finger away from the fabric and sticking it between his lips. He looked up, spotting the younger as he put one hand over his mouth and grabbed the hem of his shirt with the other.

“Don’t do that,” Ryan laughed through his finger.

Ray pulled his hand away. “I- I’m sorry, that was really rude, and I didn’t mean to scare you!”

“It’s alright, Ray. No harm done.” The older considered his own statement for a beat before looking at his finger. “Well… No extreme harm done, I should say.”

“Is it bleeding? Do you need a band aid? I can go get you one! I think Jack has some in his bag…”

Ryan contained his laugh just enough to let the rest of the house sleep. “It’s fine, Ray. It’s in no need of emergency medical procedure. It was just a little jab; nothing to fret over.”

The younger nodded and let his muscles relax; he shifted awkwardly on the stairs. He was supposed to be sleeping on the couch, but he didn’t want to interfere with Ryan’s work, especially since the contest was tomorrow. Briefly, he considered just sleeping on the floor next to Gavin’s room, but Ryan’s voice broke through his thoughts before he could gather the courage to do so.

“You wanna come sit down, or…? I’m sitting on the floor for a reason, you know.”

Ray hesitated mentally, but his body automatically started to do the work for him. He felt his legs walk down the stairs and place him gently on the couch before folding in on themselves under him. As his mind worked out what had just happened, his eyes stayed on the needle as the Breeder delicately sewed the fabric together. They followed the thread as it went in and over, in and over, in and over…

“What did you say you were doing, Ryan?” he asked without realizing it. He winced a bit. He really needed to start thinking.

The older, however, didn’t seem to be phased by his sudden question. He simply smiled into his work and replied, “Oh, right, you weren’t awake when we were talking about it. Have you ever seen the musical _Wicked_ , Ray?”

“ _’Wicked Ray’_?”

Ryan snorted. “No, idiot, just _Wicked_. It’s about the Wicked Witch of the West and the Good Witch of the North from _the Wizard of Oz_ when they were in high school, or college or something.”

“O-Oh! Um… No, I haven’t,” Ray answered. “Sorry.”

“It’s alright. Well, the Good Witch of the North, Galinda, or Glinda, has a lot of different outfits throughout the musical- more than Elphaeba, the Wicked Witch of the West, who most of the musical is based off of. I’m doing a male version of Glinda’s outfit at the beginning of act two, when there’s a press conference a while after what happened at the end of act one.”

Ray blinked at the information just spewed at him. “I… Um… Cool? I think?”

Ryan paused long enough to look up at his bewildered expression. “Sorry,” he laughed. “I’m a little passionate about musicals.”

“I can tell.”

“Any chance I get to talk about them, I’ll take it up,” he added, ignoring Ray’s comment. “There’s not a lot of people willing to hear me go on rants about the plot of some obscure musical they’ve never heard of, or how a certain style of music doesn’t fit that scene of some off-Broadway production, so I have to take every opporitunity that presents itself, you know?”

The younger hummed, and a beat of silence fell comfortably around them. The Trainer took this moment to pull of his glasses and crawl under the couple of sheets that had been laid out for him. Once he had gotten into a comfortable position on his side, he looked at Ryan.

“If you really want to, I won’t care,” he suggested. “I mean, I might fall asleep, but I’ll still listen to you if you really want me to.”

Chuckling, the older glanced at him. “Thanks, but I’m afraid that if I do that, this stitching is going to go to shit. Could I take a rain check on it, though?”

Ray smiled and shut his eyes. “Of course.”

Ryan gave the Lad one last smile before looking back to his sewing. “Good night, Ray.”

“Night, Ryan.”

“Sleep well.”

“You too… Wait, shit, I mean…”

The Gent laughed softly. “I know what you mean.”

As he hummed, Ryan watched as Ray visually relaxed. This had always been his favorite part of the nights since they’d started traveling together- watching as the anxious Trainer’s worries and fears melted away until he was at peace. The aesthetic affection towards that little part of the day only increased when they’d discovered Ray’s anxiety disorder; knowing just how much the kid endured in the day just made it that much more meaningful. Still, he (and he knew the others, too) tried to make sure that there was less to tumble off per night, and even if they weren’t always the most successful, like the other day, he could only hope that Ray could feel a bit more relaxed in knowing that his friends were out to protect him.

Once it was clear that all of the younger’s worries were gone for the night, Ryan turned back to his sewing, singing quietly to himself to keep his brain occupied.

“I guess I’d be a hero, with sword and armor clashing; looking semi-dashing, a shield within my grip… Or else I’d be a viking and live a life of daring, while smelling like a herring upon a viking ship…”

 

* * *

 

 

When the sunlight was pouring into the almost-empty living room, Gavin came trotting down the stairs with a picture frame in his hand. As he snuck past Ray’s sleeping form, he gently placed it on the coffee table and stole one last glance at it before slipping into the dining area.

He almost screamed when he saw Michael already sitting at the table. The Ranger raised an eyebrow at him as he sipped out of his mug.

“You alright there?”

Gavin sucked the air back into his lungs and shut the door behind him. “Bloody hell, Mi-cool, I thought you were still upstairs!”

“No, I’ve been up for a while,” Michael laughed. “Did you think I was Growlithe? Arceus, Gav!”

A blush creeped onto the Photographer’s face, and he quickly replied, “W-Well, I wasn’t bloody lookin’ at it!”

The Ranger was quick to hush him. “Dude, shut the fuck up! Ray’s still sleeping, and if you keep yelling that fucking loudly, the entire house is gonna Mew damn shit themselves!”

Gavin laughed, turning towards the kitchen. “Alright, you pisspot. I’m gonna make myself a cuppa. You want anything?”

“Nah. I’ve already got my coffee. Thanks, though.”

As the younger disappeared into the other room, he called out, “Alright, suit yourself.”

With a smirk, Michael took another drink of coffee. “You ready for the contest today?” he asked.

“Ehh… I could be more prepared,” the Photographer replied. “I mean, my costume’s alright, but I’ve still got no idea what I want to do for the performance. I’m thinking about just playing it off like a regular contest, to be honest.”

“Do you have to use Pokemon in it?”

“No, but it’s not banned or anything. A lot of people still do, anyways. I think Geoff said he was gonna use one of his, actually.”

Michael raised an eyebrow. “Does he already know what he’s doing? How the fuck…?”

Gavin stepped back in just enough to lean against the door. “I have no bloody clue. I don’t think he’s gonna do a good job, though. His costume’s pretty shit.”

The auburn haired laughed. “That doesn’t surprise me at all.”

They fell into a comfortable silence until a beeping creaked out from the kitchen; Gavin turned at the sound and hurried in. Soon after, there was the clinking of a spoon against ceramics, and then the Photographer was back in with Michael.

The door to the living room opened and shut to let Ryan in. He gave the two a tired nod as he headed to the kitchen, and they returned the gesture.

“There’s coffee already made, Rye-bread,” Michael called in.

“Thanks,” Ryan croaked back.

When the Gent returned, he sat at the end of the table, just letting the warmth of the coffee seep into his hands and shutting his eyes. He almost had fallen back asleep when Gavin’s voice pulled him out of it.

“I’m sorry, what?” he asked.

Gavin frowned. “I said, are you alright? You look bloody tired as hell…”

Yawning, the oldest nodded. “’M fine. I was up really late working on that costume.”

“What time did you end up going to bed?”

Ryan glared at the ceiling, pushing his lips to the side of his face in thought. “Mmm… Three, three thirty? Somewhere around there, I think.”

“Fucking Arceus, man,” Michael commented. “Do you think you’ll be alright for the contest today?”

“Well, I kind of have to be don’t I?” he replied. He then took a long sip and added, “But probably. Once I get some caffeine in me, I should be alright.”

Before anyone could reply, the door opened and shut again, this time allowing Geoff to walk in nonchalantly. He swooped into the kitchen long enough to get some coffee, then stood and leaned against the door frame as he slurped it down.

“You two fuckers ready to get your asses beaten in this contest today?” he asked confidently.

Gavin rolled his eyes with a grin. “Please, Geoffrey, you couldn’t beat a Feebas in this, let alone a human.”

A glare snapped onto his features. “Care to repeat that, asshole?”

“You bloody well heard me.”

“Okay, so do you think your costume is better than mine?”

The Photographer smirked at him with raised eyebrows. “By one hell of a long shot.”

Geoff gave him a dark look as he took a long drink. “What about Ryan’s?” he asked. “Do you think it’s better than Ryan’s?”

Gavin glanced to the still half-asleep Breeder, hesitating just the slightest bit. “Dunno,” he replied. “I haven’t seen his yet.”

“It probably is,” Ryan admitted. “A lot of shit goes wrong with costumes when you’re working on it at two a.m. There’s probably stuff I didn’t even know went wrong that got fucked up.”

Michael frowned, looking at him. “Really? Like what?”

The older leaned back in his chair. “Like using the wrong stitch, or accidentally sewing things to your own clothes, or sewing the wrong piece of fabric onto something.”

Gavin started to laugh. “Bloody hell! Sounds like you had one hell of a night, there, Ryan!”

“Yeah?” he answered. He took another drink of his coffee and added, “Well, it’s gonna be one hell of a day, too.”

 

* * *

 

 

When the group eventually arrived at the arena where the contest was being held, Ryan in no way could have honestly said that he was one hundred percent confident in his entry. Most people were walking around wearing their costumes, including Geoff and Gavin, but the Breeder hadn’t been able to bring himself to do the same. Instead, he just shoved it into a plastic bag to change into when they got inside.

Now that he was here, he was ever so glad that he had done so. So many entries were twice, if not three or four times, as good and well-arranged as his. The closer they got, the more he could see; many were very original, but a lot were based off of their Pokemon, like Gavin’s, or off of a familiar character, like his own and Geoff’s. He saw more than one _Big Hero 6_ cosplay with a Snorlax and a kid, a few costumes formed to look like the champions of other regions (not Beacon, since their champion was extremely private and preferred not to show his face), and even a dress that looked like the _Starry Night_ with Pokemon embroidered all throughout it.

Ryan swallowed thickly, wishing he’d had more time to work on his. He cast a nervous look at the bag in his hand. By this point, he was even considering not entering. Backing out before the critics could tear him apart for his poor stitching and unoriginal idea.

It was almost as if Growlithe and Jack could sense the nerves pouring through the Breeder’s mind; the Fire Type Pokemon jumped onto his shoulder, nuzzling his cheek as the Pokemon Doctor placed a reassuring hand on his back.

“You getting nervous?” the younger asked.

He hesitated, but nodded regardless. “There are so many great costumes here… I really don’t think mine is good enough,” he admitted. “I think I might just back out and sit with you guys.”

Jack’s eyebrow’s shot up. “What? But you’ve worked so hard on it!”

“That doesn’t mean it’s good!” Ryan shot back. “The stitching’s all off, and it’s not even accurate to the real costume. Glinda only has one sleeve on her dress, not two. People are going to be bitching at me for weeks!”

Rolling his eyes, the ginger reached behind Ryan to pet Growlithe. “Then do it for the performance. You know what you’re doing, don’t you?” he pointed out.

Ryan hesitated again. “I mean… Yeah, but-”

“See, there you go! You’ve got a reason to do this!”

“-But it’s not good either!” he exclaimed.

Jack sighed. “What’s the problem with it? What are you even doing?”

The Breeder’s shoulders fell. “I was doing a modified version of _Thank Goodness_ , which is the song in the scene that Glinda wears this costume for. But I didn’t have any way to cut music together, so it’d have to be a capella, plus it’s only, like, a quarter of the Mew damn song. Even so, that’s _way_ too long to force people to listen to my voice.”

Bringing his hand back, Jack placed it on Ryan’s shoulder and stopped them from walking. The others kept going, not realizing, and Ryan looked at them until Jack grabbed his chin and turned his head towards him.

“Now you listen to me, Ryan Haywood,” he sternly commanded, “I’ve heard you singing before- we all have, multiple times –and forcing people to listen to you singing is so fucking far from a bad thing. You’re a _great_ singer! And so what if it’s a capella? People will still listen. No one’s going to care that it’s short, either. People aren’t watching for the Mew damn plot, they’re there for the costume and the performance. You’re going to do _fine_.”

Ryan pressed his lips together as Growlithe leapt off of his shoulder and sprinted to the rest of the group. “Okay, fine. So the performance will go okay. But like you said, they’re coming for that _and_ the costumes. My costume is still shit! No matter how fucking amazing the performance is, it’s not going to change that.”

Jack pulled his arms back and crossed his arms. “Then let me see it.”

“W- What?”

“Let me see your costume,” he repeated. “I’ll tell you if it’s shit or not.”

The older brought the bag up to his chest and hugged it defensively. “N- No, it’s shit! I’m not letting you look at it!”

Smirking as if he’d just won, Jack slightly tipped his head down. “Alright. Then if you won’t let me see it, I won’t let you back out.”

“Jack-”

“Nope! No arguments!” He pointed a finger at Ryan’s chest. “You’ve been so Mew damn excited for this since we found out about it. I’m not going to let you ruin the experience for yourself just because you got fucking cold feet at the last minute. Even if it is bad- which I’m sure it’s not –I want you to at least try.”

The older stayed silent, staring at the Pokemon Doctor and slowly clutching the bag tighter against himself. Jack sounded so sure, but… How could he be? He wasn’t Ryan. He didn’t have the experience in sewing or the extensive knowledge of musicals like he did. How could he know if it was good or bad? He hadn’t even _seen_ it, for Arceus’s sake!

 _But there’s a chance he knows,_ a voice in the back of his head pointed out. _Not because of his knowledge of that stuff, but his knowledge of you._

“Hey, assholes, are you coming today or what?”

The two turned at the sound of Geoff’s voice and glanced at each other before hurrying towards where the others were meeting up with Dan and George.

There was no backing out now.

 

* * *

 

 

Michael frowned as he played with the camera in his hands. “What the fuck made Gavin think I know anything about how to work this?” he grumbled. “I don’t know jack shit!”

Jack turned away from George and to the Ranger. “What?”

Peeking over his shoulder, Ray reached over and pressed a button. The screen on the back lit up, greeting them noiselessly. When Michael looked at him, the Trainer shrugged.

“I think that’s the power button,” he pointed out.

“Yeah, thanks, jerk off.”

“Hello, everyone, and welcome to the 23rd Annual Gubbin City Costume Contest!” a voice rang out.

As the group turned to the middle of the arena, Jack announced, “I think it’s starting!”

Michael rolled his eyes. “Fucking Arceus, you and Ray are just…”

Jack shushed him, and the younger growled a bit before looking back to the woman. She had long, brunette hair brushed onto one shoulder, and she wore a tight black outfit. On the left side of her chest was a red hourglass symbol, and once their eyes laid on it, the three Achievement Hunters sat up straight.

“Black Widow!” they exclaimed in unison.

“My name is Kris McMeans, and as many of you recall, I was the winner last year,” she explained. “As are the rules, I will be this year’s host for you all! Now let’s all welcome our judges this year! First we have…”

As she continued, Ray turned to Dan, who was sitting on his other side. “Isn’t the contest determined by votes?” he asked. “Why are there judges, then?”

“They’re only there to make sure that the costumes are within the rules,” he explained. “Plus, they add their own comments to help others determine their votes. It’s kind of like one of those competitions like _Hoenn Idol_ that you’d watch on television or something.”

Ray made a noise of understanding. “Why aren’t you a judge?”

Dan spluttered out a breath. “Please! I don’t know bugger all about costumes. I’d be the worst judge. Just because my grandfather’s up there doesn’t mean that I should be, too.”

“Is that him?” the Trainer asked, pointing to the man in the middle.

The gym leader nodded. “Yup! Old Man Gruchy is what everyone around here calls him. He’s the guy everyone really goes to for advice when they’ve got a really big decision.”

Turning back to the arena, Ray nodded.

“…And finally, we’ve got our very own Nurse Joy!” Kris announced, holding her hand out to gesture to her.

Michael suddenly screamed out in support, causing Ray to flinch back so hard that he nearly slammed into Dan. Jack started to laugh, as did Michael soon after. Growlithe started to yip in worry that something had gone wrong, but its partner was quick to calm it down and shush it.

“Now that we’ve got everyone introduced, it’s time we get started! First up, we’ve got Norma, representing the _Sew You Think You Can Sew_ fabric store on Pecha Street! Her costume this year is an interpretation of Milotic!”

Ray perked up. “Hey, that’s where Ryan and I went to get fabric the other day!” he exclaimed.

As the woman gracefully walked out in a tan, pink, and blue dress, Michael smirked at the youngest. “Is that the store where you fell asleep?”

His face flushed, and he turned back to the arena. “…Yeah.”

They watched as Norma brought out a Milotic and had it use Surf as she stood on top of it; now that they were together, Ray could clearly see the resemblance between the costume and the Pokemon. The performance ended with the water exploding throughout the arena, giving it a nice sparkle.

As she scurried off stage, Kris came back and hollered, “Next up, it’s Aulis from the Gubbin City Pokemon Gym! For his costume contest debut, he’s gone with Marvel’s Quicksilver!”

“Aulis? Really?” Dan remarked. “Bloody hell, he’s really stepping out of his comfort zone! Usually he’d be way too nervous to do anything like this!”

Jack cast a glance to the gym leader before looking to the entrance where the contestants were coming in and out. He let out a hum of worry before he could stop himself.

“I hope Ryan’s doing okay,” he muttered.

 

* * *

 

 

Ryan was not doing okay.

At the moment, he was the only person backstage not in costume, so he was already looking quite out of place. Add the fact that he was sat stock still on a bench, hands clutching the seat so tightly that his fingers were turning white, and he’d turned into a sight to look at from a distance but never get close to. That is, never get close to unless you were Gavin or Geoff, who were too wrapped up next to him over their upcoming performances that they didn’t even notice the petrified state that their friend was in until Geoff turned to ask him a question and saw his pale face.

“Hey, buddy, you okay?” he asked, drawing the attention of Gavin.

Ryan looked at the two slowly and took a deep breath; he opened his mouth to reply, but the Photographer beat him to the punch.

“Bloody hell, Ry! You’re as pale as a damn Glalie! What the hell’s wrong with you?”

“Are you sick?” Geoff quickly questioned. Before Ryan could even begin to answer, the oldest had placed the back of his hand on his forehead. “You feel okay…”

Frowning, Ryan pushed the hand away and shook his head. “I’m fine,” he reassured, voice waving uncharacteristically. “It’s just that… I’m a bit nervous, is all. Okay, more than a bit. A lot.”

“Nervous? What for?” Gavin shot back. “You’ve got nothin’ to be scared of! It’s just a little contest!”

The Breeder opened his mouth to reply, but they heard the contestant before Gavin being called onto the stage, and the Photographer winced before getting up.

“Dammit, I’m supposed to be back there,” he hissed.

“Are _you_ ready, Gav?” Geoff asked.

With a grin and a thumbs up, Gavin held up a PokeBall in a contest capsule. “I sure as hell am! Got my mum’s old lucky capsule from her contest days and my dad’s luck on my side! I’m gonna be the best Free in this contest!” He pointed to Ryan. “Tell me what’s wrong after I go, alright, Ryan?” With that, he turned and sprinted out of the back room.

Once he was gone, Ryan sucked in a long breath and let it out shakily. Sensing his nerves, Geoff moved over just a bit and threw his arm around the Breeder.

“It’ll be alright, Ryan,” he softly reassured. “You’re going to do just fine.”

 

* * *

 

 

“Now we’ve got Gavin Free, a former representative of the Ozpin Gardens who is now a freelance photographer! His costume today is his interpretation of an Umbreon!”

Ray almost jumped out of his seat at the name. “Gavin!” he exclaimed.

“It sure is!” Dan replied with a grin.

Michael held up the camera. “Bet he’s gonna want a shit ton of pictures of this.”

As soon as the words were out of his mouth, Gavin came sprinting on stage, PokeBall in hand. He was in mostly black- black jeans, black shirt, black shoes –and on the shirt, a yellow outline of a circle was on each sleeve. A headband was on his head that sported Umbreon-like ears, and a pair of red-shaded sunglasses rested on his face.

He whipped the PokeBall into the air, slowing to a stop near center stage.

“Midnight, it’s your time to shine!”

The Dark Type Pokemon launched out of its PokeBall with a thick veil of stars surrounding it; Gavin shot his hand out just as the PokeBall came back to his hand.

“Use Quick Attack on the stars!”

Midnight slammed its body against the objects in record time, causing them to fly out into the audience and explode into shimmering dust. Michael managed to snap a picture just as one burst above them, and he looked at the picture and grinned.

“Oh, Gavin’s gonna fucking love this one.”

The Umbreon landed on the ground gracefully, and its owner flicked his index finger up towards the ceiling.

“Now use Shadow Ball!” he exclaimed.

Jumping up onto its hind legs, Midnight spun as the dark energy formed in front of its mouth; as soon as there was a moderately sized sphere, it flung it up high into the air with a flick of its nose.

As he pushed the sunglasses up the bridge of his nose, Gavin gave his Pokemon a nod. “Quick Attack, one more time!”

Midnight leapt into the air with incredible speed, shooting itself through the attack in record time. The speed caused the Shadow Ball to split into rings that reverberated throughout the arena for what felt like ages after the actual performance ended.

The two gave a final bow, and Gavin lead Midnight off of the stage with a huge grin and a bounce in his step. Ray leaned back in his seat, still slightly in shock over what had just happened.

“That was incredible,” he breathed. “How the fuck can Gavin be so good at that?”

“It’s in his blood,” Dan informed, looking at the younger. “His mum was a super popular Coordinator before she met Gavin’s dad. Apparently, she was the Top Coordinator of Beacon for almost fifteen years! She was unbeatable! But then she met Mr. Free and gave it all up so she have a family and all of that.”

Jack, who had been only slightly listening in, turned to George. “Oh, yeah, I guess we haven’t seen your parents the whole time we’ve been here,” he realized. “Where are they? What do they do?”

“Well, Mum’s an actress now. She does a lot of movies for other regions and everything, so she has to travel a hell of a lot,” he explained. “And Dad goes with her so he can take pictures. He and Gavin do the same thing. I’m pretty sure that’s where Gavin got it from, actually.”

“And trust me, he’s just as clumsy as his mum is,” Dan added, leaning forward to look at Jack. “I don’t think there was ever a time when I was over where she wouldn’t knock something over or burn a meal or something.”

George laughed. “Yeah. I got all of the good genes from our parents.”

Jack, Michael, and Ray began to laugh.

 

* * *

 

 

As soon as Gavin stepped foot backstage, he sprinted to the other two and pointed excitedly at the television that had been set up. He was jumping from foot to foot, a wide grin on his face and a fire in his eyes.

“Did you guys see that?!” he exclaimed. “Were you watching?!”

Geoff laughed, and even Ryan managed out a small chuckle. “Yeah, idiot, we were watching,” the oldest replied. “Did you think we fucking wouldn’t?”

“What did you guys think? How did we do?”

The Breeder glanced at the Trainer before looking back to Gavin and shrugging. “I don’t know, I thought you did pretty well.”

“You did _great_ , buddy,” Geoff added.

The light in Gavin’s eyes managed to increase. “Awe, thanks, guys!” He then looked at Geoff with a smile. “That reminds me, you might want to be getting back there. You’re coming up pretty soon!”

Geoff stood and nodded. “Alright, fine. Ryan?”

The younger looked up at him. “Yeah?”

“I’d be getting into my costume if I were you,” he suggested. “These entries are fucking flying fast as dicks. Your performance is gonna be here before you fucking know it.”

Taking a deep breath, Ryan looked at the floor. “…Right. Okay.”

The oldest turned and placed a hand on his shoulder. “And just in case I don’t get the chance to say it before you go on, good luck, buddy. You’re going to do fine.”

Ryan’s shoulders suddenly fell, and he looked up at him in disbelief. “Geoff…!” he whined.

“What? What the fuck’s the problem?”

Pushing his lips to the side of his face again, he lifted a hand and pointed a finger at the oldest. “It’s bad luck to say good luck on opening night!” he sighed. “If you do, I tell you, it is certain by the curtain you are through…!”

Geoff stood up straight and put a hand to his forehead, laughing in incredulity. “Oh, for Arceus’ sake. Gavin, you take care of this. I got a performance to kick ass in.”

He turned and stalked out of the room; Gavin sat where Geoff had been and looked at Ryan.

“What were you singing, Ry?”

A smile formed on the lips of the Breeder; that little bit of fast-paced song had done _wonders_ for his nerves, even if he hadn’t meant to do it. Continuing, this time with a softer tone of voice, he let his tense muscles unravel with each lyric.

“It’s bad luck to say good luck on opening night! Once it’s said, you are dead! You will get the worst reviews you’ve ever read…!”

 

* * *

 

 

Slapping Ray’s hand away from the camera, Michael laughed out, “Oh my Mew, Ray, fucking stop!”

“Come on, man, I just want to take a selfie!” he giggled. “Just, like, three or four!”

He reached for it again, but Michael held it just out of reach with one hand and used his other to hold Ray back.

“Fuck off!”

“Michael, please!”

The older smirked, looking him dead in the eye. “Thank Arceus you’re so short. I can keep things away from you so fucking easily!”

Ray laughed. “You’re like, an inch taller than me!”

“It still counts!”

“Children, please,” Jack cut in, taking the camera out of Michael’s hand. “We’re in public. Don’t misbehave.”

Snorting, the Ranger replied, “Yeah, okay, _mom_. Can I have that back now?”

“Only if you promise to play nice,” he joked as he offered it. Just as Michael took it back, Kris’s voice filled the arena again, drawing their attention back to why they were actually there.

“Next up is Geoff Ramsey, a Pokemon Trainer coming from Dirtbag Town! His costume is Gaston from Disney’s _Beauty and the Beast_!”

Michael raised an eyebrow. “Is that what it’s supposed to be?” he questioned.

Frowning, Ray looked at him. “What do you mean? Is it bad?”

“Oh, that’s right, you never got the chance to see it!” Dan stated.

Before the youngest could even begin to reply, Geoff came sauntering on stage with a confident smirk on his face. Ray had to clasp a hand over his mouth to keep from snorting right there.

Instead of the elaborate costumes that they’d been seeing all day, the older Trainer appeared to have spent the least amount of time on his. He wore a red t-shirt that could have been bought at any clothing store in the region, and a belt around his middle over top of the shirt. The bottom half wasn’t even a costume; it was just his normal jeans and tennis shoes. To Ray it hardly even looked like a costume- if it weren’t for the belt, he would have thought that some guy off of the street had just randomly wandered in and onto the stage.

He looked at Michael, and the Ranger returned the look amusedly.

“Yeah.”

As soon as he was center stage, Geoff pulled out a PokeBall and held it in the air. He looked around, making sure he had everyone’s attention before speaking.

“As many of you know, Gaston is one of the biggest jerks there is in all of the Disney movies,” he proclaimed. “Can’t take the hint that Belle doesn’t want him, and then goes to kill who she ends up liking. All of that, you know. When Belle rejects him the first time, he ends up getting smashed in a bar because he’s so heartbroken about it, and that’s when the song _Gaston_ is sung. One of the main points that LeFou makes during it is that he’s so extremely strong. I figured, since I’m in costume and need a performance, that I’m going to prove this strength to you all.”

“What the fuck is he doing?” Michael deadpanned.

The Trainer chucked the PokeBall into the air, yelling, “Lairon, go!”

Jack frowned. “What _is_ he doing?”

When the Steel Type Pokemon landed in front of Geoff, it let out a roar of determination and scraped its front paw against the ground. Geoff looked back to the crowd and gestured to it.

“To do this, I’m going to wrestle my trusty Lairon and pin it to the ground!”

“What the fuck,” Ray groaned. “Is he fucking serious?”

Dan furrowed his brow. “Somehow, I don’t think this is a good idea.”

“You think he’ll be okay?” George asked.

The others paused. “He’d better be,” Jack replied.

“Well…,” Michael eventually said, “I guess we’ll find out.”

Geoff placed his legs shoulder width apart and faced Lairon, holding out his arms to brace himself.

“You ready, Lairon?”

It gave a grunt and tipped its head down.

“Alright… Go!”

The two instantly charged at each other and collided in the middle, feet scraping against the floor as they tried to get the upper hand. Impressed noises were coming out of most of the crowd, but the three Achievement Hunters and two friends were silent until Michael scoffed.

“Lairon’s gotta be holding back,” he stated. “Geoff can hardly haul his ass up into a tree, let alone hold back a Pokemon that’s almost 270 fucking pounds!”

Jack nodded. “Unless he’s been hitting the gym, I don’t think this is a legitimate performance.”

Snickering, Ray replied, “I mean, I guess he’s technically been hitting the gym. He’s already got two badges!”

Just then, Geoff was knocked backwards with a yelp. He hit the ground and rolled out of the way when Lairon went to pin him. Quickly getting to his feet, he rushed and tackled it, moving it a mere couple of inches before it ground to a halt.

As the scuffle continued, Jack rolled his eyes and leaned back in his seat. “I take it back. This definitely looks legitimate, and definitely doesn’t look thought out.”

“Jack, let’s be real, when does Geoff _ever_ think anything out?” Michael reminded.

“He does with gym battles, from what I’ve seen,” Dan answered, “But this certainly doesn’t look like the same amount of thought was put into it.”

“Who do you think is gonna win?” George asked.

As if on cue, Lairon finally got its grip on Geoff, and the Iron Armor Pokemon had its Trainer under its paws. The dark haired struggled to pull himself out, but the efforts were futile. Laughter erupted from the crowd, along with entertained applause. For a moment, Ray worried that Geoff might have been upset by the fact that he didn’t win, but those worries were cast aside as soon as he saw the older standing up and laughing.

Geoff pet Lairon on the nose as soon as it let him up. “Thanks for the help, buddy.” With that, the two gave a final bow and walked off stage.

 

* * *

 

 

Gavin leapt up the moment he saw the oldest walking in. “That was bloody incredible!” he laughed. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a performance go that horribly _ever_! I’m amazed!”

Rolling his eyes, Geoff moved to hit Gavin. “Gee, fucking thanks a lot, asshole.”

“I mean it! It was impressive! It wouldn’t surprise me if you got into the top three with a crash-and-burn like that!”

The oldest frowned. “Speaking of burning, where the fuck is Ryan? Did he back out?”

“Nah,” Gavin replied with a wave of his hand. “He’s off changing and getting himself prepared for this thing. I think he went into one of the private restrooms.”

“Alright. Good. As long as he hasn’t fucking chickened out.” Geoff took a deep breath, running a hand over the back of his neck. “Although, I don’t think I’d blame him, with how nervous he’s been. The guy looks ready to piss his fucking pants!”

Gavin sighed and nodded. “I hope he doesn’t freeze up or anything once he gets out there…”

“You and me both, buddy.”

 

* * *

 

 

A few entries after Geoff had come back, Ryan still wasn’t out, and the Trainer was starting to get seriously worried.

He frowned as he looked back at the restroom Gavin said that the Breeder had gone into. Yeah, the guy was nervous, but would psyching himself up really take this long? Had he fallen, maybe? What if he had gotten so nervous that he’d passed out, or started to have a panic attack?

Geoff sighed. Now he _had_ to go check on him.

Just as he got up and started walking over, the door swung open, and Ryan emerged wearing his well-tailored green suit and a rather pale face. He made eye contact with the older and attempted to give a reassuring smile, but it ended up shaking like hell. Geoff sent him a sympathetic one in return and wrapped an arm around his shoulder as he came closer, leading him to the bench he and Gavin had been on.

“I promise you, it’s not as bad as you think it’s gonna be,” he reassured. “There’s not even that many people out there!”

“Yeah! You’ve got nothin’ to be scared of, Ry!” Gavin added.

The Breeder stared at them for a moment before smiling softly. “Yeah,” he breathed. “I know. But that doesn’t make me any less nervous.” A short laugh was added onto the end of the statement, making it sound even more pathetic than Ryan had originally thought that it out.

Gavin raised an eyebrow. “What? Then what’s making you so nervous?”

Ryan opened his mouth to reply, but he trailed off as the next contestant was called onto the stage. He turned his gaze to the television screen, watching distractedly as the woman strutted onto the stage with confidence.

“Isn’t she, like, two entries before you, Ryan?” Geoff pointed out.

He nodded, getting to his feet. “Right. I should probably…”

The girl opened her mouth and began to sing- ‘sing’ being the general idea of what was coming out of her lips. Compared to the music that was playing in the background, she was so flat that she was almost sharp. Her voice was cracking every other note, and it was scratchy and just overall unappealing. Her face showed that she thought she was singing beautifully, despite everything that was wrong with her performance.

Ryan froze in his tracks, all of the nerves from just seconds before racing back full force. He felt his mouth run dry. The longer he watched her go, the less and less he was sure that he even wanted to do this.

Thankfully, Gavin caught sight of the panicking Breeder and quickly got up to place a hand on his shoulder. “Are you alright?”

The older slowly shook his head, eyes glued to the screen.

“What’s wrong?” Geoff instantly asked.

“…I can’t do it.”

The other two blinked. “S-Sorry, what?” Gavin eventually cut in. “You can’t do what? The contest?”

Ryan nodded. “I can’t do it!” he repeated, voice becoming layers more urgent.

Geoff swiftly got to his feet and pushed Gavin out of the way long enough to get in front of the Breeder. He placed his hands on his shoulders and looked him in the eye. “Take a deep breath, buddy, alright? Why can’t you do it? What’s the problem?”

Ryan swallowed thickly before replying, “I’m going to fail.”

“What? You can’t fail, Ryan! You’re you!” Gavin exclaimed.

“Gavin,” Geoff growled in a warning tone.

“Yeah, but you see how that girl’s doing!” Ryan hissed. “She thinks she’s the shit, and you see how awful she sounds! If I go up there with the same confidence, I’m going to get the same results!”

“There are so fucking many problems with that logic,” Geoff said. “First of all, Ryan, you’re a great singer. She’s just shit. How she does and how you do don’t affect each other.”

“She’s not even that bad!” Gavin added.

There was a beat as the Gents stared at the Lad. He grinned for a moment before deflating and looking away.

“…Okay, so she’s pretty shit.”

“Second of all,” Geoff continued, “Just because she’s confident and sounds bad doesn’t mean that if you’re confident, you’ll sound bad, too. You’re two different people. How your confidence affects you isn’t the same as how it affects her. Besides, with how nervous you are right now, I don’t think you’d get that confident, anyways.”

Ryan stared at him for a minute before trailing his eyes back up to the screen. He swallowed thickly again and shook his head.

“I- I still don’t think I can do it,” he whispered.

Rolling his eyes, Gavin grabbed hold of Ryan’s arm and started to drag him towards the door. “That’s a bloody… load of crap!” he stated, struggling to speak as he strained to move the older. “You can absolutely do this!”

Ryan dug his heels into the floor. “Gavin- Gavin, stop, I’m really not good enough…!”

Geoff quickly grabbed the other arm and yanked him, causing him to stumble forward just far enough for the oldest to get behind him and start pushing him. “Just shut the fuck up and go, dumbass. We’re not gonna let you _not_ do this. You’re gonna be fine.”

They were about halfway to the stage through the various pushes and pulls, and it took until then for Ryan to realize that they sure as hell were _not_ giving up. Still, he tried to see if he could squirm out of their grip before they made it behind the curtain.

He couldn’t, of course. As weak as Gavin was, he had one hell of a grip, and Geoff was stronger than he looked, despite the fiasco with his Lairon. Before he knew if, to his chagrin, he found them right behind where the light was pouring out. He bit his lip and tried to turn as soon as they let go, but Geoff grabbed him before he could get very far and forced him to stay there.

Ryan could have thrown up when the guy before him came back and he heard Kris making the next announcement.

“Next, we’ve got Ryan Haywood, coming all the way from Canalave City in Sinnoh! His costume is a version of Glinda from the popular musical, _Wicked_!”

Before he could even consider stepping back, two pairs of hands landed on his back and shoved him through the curtain. As soon as he got his footing, he looked around at the crowd.

Geoff had been so, so wrong.

 

* * *

 

 

“Uh oh,” Jack mumbled.

The others looked at him. “’Uh oh’ what?” Michael questioned. “What the fuck are you talking about?”

The Gent frowned. “He’s nervous.”

Sure enough, when they looked, the Breeder hadn’t moved an inch since he’d gotten out there. He simply was standing and staring at the crowd. Ray noticed that it almost looked like he was scanning it for someone- probably them, he realized with a pang in his heart.

“Do you think he’ll be alright?” Dan asked.

“He’s freezing up,” George pointed out.

Michael bit his lip. “Come on, Rye-bread, you’ve got this,” he whispered.

Ray swallowed, wishing there were some way that he could send some encouragement down to the Gent. A thought struck him, but he shook it away. He couldn’t do _that_. That’d be too obnoxious, and he’d annoy everyone around him and embarrass his friends. He couldn’t do it.

…Could he?

He paused, and then with a sudden burst of confidence, got to his feet before it could fade out.

 

* * *

 

 

“Go, Ryan! You can do this!”

The Breeder was snapped out of his panicked state by the sound of the youngest’s voice echoing throughout the arena. His eyes darted to where it’d come from.

“You can do it!” Ray repeated. “Just go for it!”

Michael stood up next to him. “Yeah, Rye-bread! No fears allowed!”

Before he knew it, their entire group of friends had gotten to their feet and were encouraging him. He could have cried with affection if it weren’t for the fact that he was still in front of so many people. He even heard some cheers from behind him, although much calmer than the ones from the stands.

The shouting didn’t do too much to calm his nerves, but it did give him the confidence to walk to the mic that had been set up in the middle of the stage for him. Once he was there, his friends went quiet again, leaving him on his own to get his voice to work.

“…Oh, what a celebration we’ll have today,” he sang slowly, voice shaking. “Thank goodness! Let’s have a celebration the Glinda way, thank goodness…!”

This was coming a _lot_ easier than he’d thought it would initially. With a swallow, he continued, still a little slow for the song, but quicker than he had before.

“Finally a day that’s totally wicked witch free, we couldn’t be happier, thank goodness!”

A smile started to form on his face; this was actually kind of fun!

“Yes, we couldn’t be happier. Right, dear? Couldn’t be happier, right here…”

He felt his body begin to move with the music in his head, so to stay in character, he tried to remember what movements the Glindas would do in the recordings he had watched. Thankfully, he’d seen them so many times that they came naturally as soon as he decided to do so.

“Look what we’ve got, our fairy tale plot, our very own happy ending! Where we couldn’t be happier. True, dear? Couldn’t be happier, and we’re happy to share our ending vicariously with all of you!”

By this point, the final nerves were pouring out of his body, leaving him singing as if no one were around. If he had known preforming would be like this, he never would have been afraid in the first place!

“He couldn’t look handsomer, I couldn’t feel humbler, we couldn’t be happier, because happy is what happens when all your dreams come true!”

He knew that at this point, he needed to skip another large portion of the song, but he was so into it that he nearly forgot to do so. Flinching a bit at his mishap, then a bit more at the fact that he’d flinched while preforming, he took a deep breath before continuing.

“That’s why I couldn’t be happier… No. I couldn’t be happier, though it is, I admit, the tiniest bit, unlike I anticipated…”

Ryan always found himself relating to this part a terrible amount, so when he sang it, he didn’t really need to act. He loved that he could just listen to his voice when he reached this portion, even if he was preforming.

“But I couldn’t be happier! Simply couldn’t be happier… Well, not simply. Cause getting your dreams, it’s strange but it seems a little, well… Complicated. There’s a kind of a, sort of… cost. There’s a couple of things get lost. There are bridges you cross you didn’t know you crossed until you’ve crossed!”

Shutting his eyes, he let the lyrics rush over his body and mind as his voice made the words physical.

“But if that joy… That thrill. Doesn’t thrill like you think it will… Still. With this prefect finale, the cheers in the valley, who? Who wouldn’t be happier? So, I couldn’t feel happier. Because happy is what happens when all your dreams come true…”

He paused.

“Well… Isn’t it? Happy is what happens when your dreams come true…!”

The energy rushed back into him as he held the note, for which he was extremely thankful for. This ending needed to be perfect.

“Thank goodness! For all this joy we know who we’ve got to thank- thank goodness! That means the wizard, Glinda, and fiance, they couldn’t be goodlier, she couldn’t be lovelier, we couldn’t be luckier, I couldn’t be happier…!”

He took as large and as quick of a breath he could before belting out the final note.

“Today…!”

Immediately and without waiting for reaction, Ryan took a few steps back before turning and walking to the curtain. He was so focused on doing so, in fact, that he almost missed the thunderous applause coming from the arena. Almost.

As soon as he was backstage, Gavin launched himself to give the Gent a hug. “That was bloody incredible, Ryan!” he cheered. “Mew, you killed it!”

Ryan laughed, weakly hugging the younger back. “Thanks, Gav,” he replied.

A slap on his back nearly made him knock them both over, but thankfully they managed to have just enough coordination to stay upright. The Breeder looked over at Geoff as soon as they had their balance back.

“Told you you’d do fine,” he mused.

“Yeah, well, you also told me that there weren’t a lot of people out there,” he pointed out.

“You think _that’s_ a lot of people?” Geoff laughed. “Clearly you’ve never been to one of the Pokemon Leagues outside of Beacon!”

Ryan went to swat at him, but the oldest caught his wrist before he could make contact. Immediately, his smirk dissolved into a frown, and he turned it towards the younger.

“Arceus dicks, dude! You’re shaking like a leaf! Are you okay? What the fuck!”

Gavin quickly pulled back and looked up at the gent. “Are you sure you’re not sick?”

The Breeder laughed nervously. “I’m fine guys, really!” he reassured. “The adrenaline’s just starting to wear off, is all. I swear I’m okay.”

Still not completely convinced, Geoff let Ryan’s wrist fall regardless. “We should probably go back to the back room,” he suggested. “Don’t want to be holding shit up over here.”

 

* * *

 

 

“That was incredible!” Michael exclaimed. “I can’t believe he was so nervous at the beginning! He pulled it off like it was fucking nothing!”

“Mew damn, he’s a lot more talented than I’d thought!” Dan added.

“I’m definitely going to vote for him,” George said. “That was the best performance all day!”

“Don’t forget there’s still a few entries left,” Jack reminded.

Michael laughed. “Oh, don’t bullshit yourself, Jack,” he snickered. “We all know that you’re going to vote for Ryan no matter what the others do.”

“How do you know that I won’t vote for Geoff or Gavin?”

The Ranger shrugged. “I don’t know. Just a gut feeling, I guess.”

Ray looked at the auburn haired. “So… if Jack’s voting for Ryan, are you going to vote for Gavin?” he asked. “I’m gonna vote for Geoff, then. You know, so they each get one of our votes. It’s even. U-Unless you wanted to vote for Geoff! I just figured that- you know, since you and Gav are so close…”

Michael waved him off. “Nah, I’ll vote for Gavin. He’s my boi! I’ve got his back.”

Before Ray could say anything else, Jack barked out a laugh and gestured to where the next contestant was coming out.

“This ought to be good,” he chuckled.

The group turned their attention to the performance, forgetting about the voting until it was supposed to start.

 

* * *

 

 

A while later, as the contestants were filing their way back onto the stage, Kris went to the center and held the microphone back up.

“Now that all of the votes are in and counted up, it’s time to announce the winners!” she exclaimed. “The prizes this year are the same as always- third gets a coupon for a free Poketch, second gets a fifty dollar gift card to the Pottery Place, and first gets a one hundred dollar gift card to Sew This Be Madness and the title of next year’s MC!”

Jack’s eyes widened. “Arceus, that third place prize sounds better than the other two!” he speculated.

“Not really,” Dan replied. “Most of the people who want Poketches in Gubbin are the teenaged girls. Plus, people go to the Pottery Place and Sew This Be Madness way more often than you’d expect.”

Michael looked at them. “That must only be in Gubbin, then. Everyone was all over Poketches in Almia. I never cared for them, but all of my friends were constantly talking about them.”

“I had a couple of neighbors who talked about getting them,” Ray added. “I think one of them had one sent all the way from Jubilife City in Sinnoh!”

George leaned forwards. “Hey, guys? I think they’re about to announce the winners.”

Quickly, the four returned their attention to the floor.

“We’re going to announce the three nominees first, as always,” Kris stated. “Our first nominee is Norma with her Milotic costume! Her spectacular contest-like preformance left many of us in awe!”

“Wasn’t she the first one up?” Michael asked.

“Yeah. That usually gives people somewhat of an advantage, since it’s the first one you see and you’re constantly comparing it, but her costume was actually pretty great,” Dan pointed out.

Norma walked forwards, running a hand through her long, blonde hair as she did so. A smile was accompanied by a small giggle as she waved shyly at the crowd.

“Second, we’ve got Dee and their Snorlax with their incredible _Big Hero 6_ cosplay! Who could forget their wonderful reenactment of the scene where Hiro and Baymaxx flew over San Fransokyo?”

“Ah, yes, one of the many _Big Hero 6_ cosplays we’ve seen today,” Jack sighed.

Ray grinned and pulled his fists up to his chest. “Yeah, but this was the really good one!” he exclaimed. “This was the one where the Snorlax actually had the jets on it, and it flew around the arena!”

Dee and Snorlax came up next to Norma, and as soon as they were up there, Dee leaned forwards and pulled off their helmet. When they flipped their head up and let their pastel teal hair fly, the crowd erupted into cheers.

Michael turned to Dan. “So their pronouns are gender neutral?” he asked. “Can I ask what they identify as? If you even know, that is.”

“Oh, yeah. Dee is agender. They get loads of crap for it, but more support than anything, and they’re really nice, so everyone really likes them. It’s no wonder they made it into the finals.”

“And finally, we’ve got Ryan and his spectacular Glinda costume and performance that showed his talents in every aspect!”

The Achievement Hunters all leapt to their feet, screaming with joy. They watched as Ryan stood, frozen in shock, until Gavin and Geoff shoved him forwards. He stumbled to the spot on the other side of Norma just in time for a large grin to split onto his face.

Once the crowd had quieted down, Kris glanced down at the printer paper in her hand. “Now to announce the second place winner! This year, the fifty dollar gift card to the Pottery Place goes to… Dee and their Snorlax!”

As the arena cheered, the agendered cosplayer punched the air and high-fived their Snorlax. Ryan’s eyes widened a bit, and he bit his lip worriedly.

“It’s time for the moment you’ve all be waiting for!” Kris continued. “The announcement of this year’s first place winner and next year’s MC! Be sure to give your applause to…”

There was a dramatic pause- one that left Michael groaning in his seat.

“For fuck’s sake, just announce the Mew damn-”

“Norma, and her beautiful Milotic costume!”

While the rest of the Achievement Hunters deflated at the name, Ryan let out a sigh of relief. He lifted his hands and gave her polite applause, the smile on his face not once faltering.

Ryan was definitely doing okay now.

 

* * *

 

 

The sun was getting low in the sky, but Geoff insisted that they began their travels as soon as they could. No one really had any reason to protest, either, and that’s how they ended up at the gate to Route 15 with only a couple of hours left to travel. Dan, George, and Hilda stood nearby, closer to the gate than the Achievement Hunters.

“So… This is it, then,” George muttered.

Gavin rolled his eyes. “Oh, come on, you know I’m coming back eventually,” he replied. “We’ve talked about this, haven’t we?”

“I know, I know.”

“I think he’s just upset about having to watch his big brother disappear again,” Dan said.

“I told you I’m gonna call more often than I did before!”

Hilda jabbed a finger in his direction. “Yeah, and you’d fucking better hold yourself to that, or I’ll come find you and kick your ass myself!”

“If anyone’s gonna be kicking his ass, it’ll be me!” George interjected with a laugh.

Grinning, the older Free reached over and roughly ruffled his hair. “Please! We all know I’d be the winner of that!”

His friends’ responses were almost in perfect sync.

“In what universe?!”

The Photographer laughed loudly before beginning to walk backwards, towards the others. “Ah, we’ll figure it out someday,” he said, “But right now I gotta go. Dan, keep these two kids in check, alright?”

“I’m not a bloody kid!”

“You’re, like, a month older than me!”

“Aren’t I younger than you, anyways?”

He laughed again. “Like I said, we’ll figure it out someday. I’ll call you guys as soon as we get to Cultivate Town!”

Dan rolled his eyes, but nodded regardless. “Yeah, yeah, alright. We’ll talk to you then!”

“And try not to die before you get home,” Hilda added. “I’d like to be able to talk to you again.”

With that, the two turned and headed back towards the gate. Ray let out a gasp before they made it, however, and he sprinted to them to give Dan a hug from behind. The gym leader looked at him and grinned just as Ray pulled back and started running back to the Achievement Hunters.

“Aw, don’t you want a real hug?”

Dan turned around and held his arms open. Ray’s eyes lit up a ridiculous amount, and then he was racing back. Without thinking, he jumped up and wrapped his legs around the older’s middle, but before he could even start to freak out, Dan started to laugh.

“I’m gonna miss you, Ray. You’re pretty great!”

The Trainer grinned, burying his face in Dan’s shoulder. “I’m gonna miss you, too. Thank you so much for everything!”

“My pleasure, kid. Hope everything turns out alright for ya! You should stop by for a visit someday!”

“I’ll try,” he sighed.

At this point, Ray got back onto the ground and hurried back to the Achievement Hunters. When he turned back around, the two were gone, leaving just them and George.

The younger Free pulled his brother into a quick hug before waving at the others. “It was great having you guys. You’re a lot better than I was expecting!”

Geoff frowned. “Were you expecting something worse?”

Ignoring him, Jack answered, “It was great meeting you, too, George. You’re a lot better than how Gavin was describing you!”

“Hey!”

With a laugh, George nodded. “Yeah, I’m sure he gave you a pretty shit description. That’s what he’s good at.”

There was a beat of silence, and then Ryan was turning towards the road.

“We should probably get going,” he said. “There’s only going to be light for a couple more hours, and we still need to set up camp. See you later, George.”

They all said their goodbyes, and after one final hug from Gavin, they started to walk down the path. They only got a few feet, however, before the younger Free said his final goodbye.

“Bye. My name’s Johnny.”

Everyone stopped in their tracks, frozen in confusion for a beat before they turned around to find him gone. Gavin whined loudly and let his arms fall to his side.

“Mew dammit! He ruined it!”

Michael gave the Photographer a disbelieving look. “What the fuck…? His name’s not George?!”

“Of course not!” Gavin laughed. “I just wanted to see how long I could make you guys think his name wasn’t Johnny for!”

“…You cocksucker.”

The Gubbin City native snickered and started to walk down the path. The others followed after him, trying to process the information that had just been given to them before the next big thing would happen as the journey continued.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the read! Hope you all enjoyed!!
> 
> Ryan's songs this chapter: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C20CjvnrR-U  
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhbD8lZuuPg  
> An edited version of this song https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xSRCSXlaxM
> 
> So. Important thing that I've been putting off telling you because I thought I'd be able to fix it before now.
> 
> After I post chapter 33, there might be a relatively long hiatus. I've been really slowing down on how fast I've been writing these chapters. When I started posting this fic, I had just finished writing chapter 20 and was already getting pretty into chapter 21. Now, at chapter 30, I've only got half of chapter 36 written. I don't know what slowed me down so much, but I'm thinking it might have been the gym battles against Dan, because those were a bitch to write. I wrote this chapter in the middle of June. It took me three months to write five and a half chapters. And, realistically, with college as an art major, the busiest major at this school, and marching band and considering adding two minors, the chances of writing enough to get way ahead are slim to none.
> 
> I've decided that if I don't have up to chapter 40 written in three weeks, I'm going to put this on hold until I can write up to chapter 50. I really, really don't want to, but there's just so much going on, and I want to make sure you guys get the best, non-rushed to hell chapters you can. So I'm going to write like crazy, but in case it doesn't happen... There's your heads up. I'm sorry.
> 
> So. Now that that's out of the way. Yes, in case you were wondering, I absolutely planned that Johnny thing from the beginning. That was my favorite part about them being in Gubbin- waiting for that reveal.
> 
> [Comfort Ryan Button]  
> [Comfort Gavin Button]  
> [Comfort Dan Button]  
> [Comfort Hilda Button]  
> [Comfort George... I mean Johnny Button]


	31. Sudden Reaction! Help Gavin Heal!!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While fucking around the day after they leave Gubbin, the group discovers something about Gavin that even he didn't know.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beacon Region Map: http://sweetiecurfyart.tumblr.com/post/111232399174/here-it-is-a-map-of-the-beacon-region-used
> 
> Art will be posted: sweetiecurfyart.tumblr.com  
>  Follow me on Twitter under @Sweetie_Curfy  
>  Support me on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/sweetiecurfy?ty=h

After a good night’s rest, the Achievement Hunters hit the road as early as they could without falling asleep as they went. Michael and Gavin had taken up the energy as soon as it came to them and began to chase each other. The rest of them chose to go at a much slower pace, simply watching as the two ran around.

Geoff looked at Ray with raised eyebrows and a smile. “You know, I forgot to tell you yesterday, but what you did was brave as dicks,” he stated. “I think we’re all really fucking proud of you. Especially Ryan. I don’t think he could have fucking moved if you hadn’t have done that.”

Flushing, the younger Trainer shrugged and glanced away. “I mean… Yeah, I guess. I didn’t really think it was that big of a deal.”

“Fuck, dude. I never would have expected anything like that to come from you. It was fucking incredible.”

A soft smile appeared on Ray’s face. _Okay, yeah,_ he thought to himself, _maybe being outgoing isn’t all that bad after all._

Up with Jack and Ryan, the two were conversing quietly about the costume contest. Jack was telling Ryan about the other costumes that they had seen, from Dee’s performance to the girl with the dress that resembled the night sky to the guy wearing the dress made of bubbles. The Breeder was laughing the whole way through each of the stories, in awe that some of these costumes had even existed.

“There was someone dressed as Lord Farquaad from Shrek, too,” Jack said. “He sang some song like you did. It was all about his dad and how he was one of the Seven Dwarves.”

Ryan perked up. “Wait, really?”

“Yeah. It was fucking weird.”

“It sounds like it was from Shrek the Musical!” he exclaimed. “That’s so cool! I wish I could have seen that one. Was he good?”

The ginger stared at him for a beat. “…There’s a musical for Shrek?”

He nodded. “It’s really good, too. A lot better than you’d expect. And the music is fucking great! I’m not afraid to admit that I bought the album as soon as I finished watching the show and then listened to it for two weeks straight. It’s one of my absolute favorite musicals!”

“I… I don’t know how to respond to this.”

Ryan laughed. “I mean, there’s not a lot to respond to, really.”

They were quiet for a beat. Jack eventually turned to him and asked, “So, do you know what model of Poketch you’re going to get?”

A scoff escaped the older before he could stop it. “Please. I don’t want the damn thing. I had enough of those when I was younger. Sinnoh is fucking _teeming_ with Poketches.”

“Oh,” the ginger replied. “Then… What are you going to do with the coupon? Are you just going to throw it away?”

“Nah. I’ll probably just give it away, honestly. I have no need for it. Actually…” Ryan reached into his pocket and pulled out a folded-up slip of paper. “Do you want it? You seem pretty interested.”

There was a beat while Jack’s mouth was open, but after a moment, he was gratefully accepting the offer. “I- yes! Thank you!”

“Not a problem, man. Just make sure you don’t get the Alarm Clock app. There’s no way to turn it off. You just have to adjust the time for later in the day if you want to sleep in.”

Jack opened his mouth to reply, but was cut off when Gavin burst through the two, quickly followed by Michael and Growlithe.

“Mi-cool, please!”

Michael laughed loudly. “Aw, Gavin, I just wanna give you a hug! Come here, boi!”

Gavin took a sharp turn, slowing to a stop right on the edge of some tall grass to the side of the path. “Come at me, then, you bitch!”

The Ranger didn’t need to be told twice. As soon as he got close enough, he leapt up and tackled the Photographer, causing them to stagger back and tumble into the grass. Michael ended up on top of Gavin, and when he pushed himself up, their faces were much too close for his comfort.

Regardless, Gavin smirked. “Is this your way of flirting with me, Mi-cool?”

Michael yelped and scrambled off of the younger. “Fucking _gross_ , Gav! You have a girlfriend!”

As he sat up, his eyebrows raised. “She doesn’t have to know.”

In a flare of annoyance, Michael ripped up a handful of grass and stuffed it down the back of the Photographer’s shirt. A squawk ripped out of him, and he squirmed to get away, but Michael grabbed him and shoved him back to the ground before he could get very far.

“Mi-cool, why?!”

“ _Mi-cool, why?_ ” the older mocked. “Shut the fuck up, idiot.”

“Aw, Mi-cool!”

Rolling his eyes, the Ranger got up and held out his hand for Gavin to grab. The younger took it and got to his feet before Growlithe jumped onto Michael’s shoulder. The Photographer pet it gently.

“That was fun,” he said. “We should do that again later.”

“Why not now?” Michael joked. “I’d be up for it again if you really want to.”

“Mew, no. That last bit actually kinda hurt.”

The Ranger frowned, throwing an arm around his shoulder as Growlithe switched to Gavin’s. They began to walk down the path again.

“Sorry, boi. Didn’t know I hurt you.”

“It’s alright, boi.”

 

* * *

 

 

As the minutes passed, Gavin was starting to realize that he definitely didn’t get enough sleep the night before.

Michael and Growlithe had eventually left him alone, as Michael wanted to talk to Jack and Growlithe had gone to Ray. Now the Photographer was in the back of the group, and he was quite thankful for that, because his eyes were watering like hell and he didn’t want the others to think he was crying. His nose had started to run, too, giving them more reason to believe something that absolutely wasn’t true.

He wiped his eyes again and sniffled quietly. Was he getting sick? That couldn’t be right; he felt absolutely fine. Just because he was overtired didn’t mean he was coming down with something… did it?

Just as he’d rubbed eyes free of liquid again, Geoff turned around and looked at him. “Hey, Gavin, do you know how long it’ll take before we get to Cultivate Town?”

“Uh… I dunno,” he answered truthfully. He brought a hand up to rub the back of his neck. “Maybe a few days? I’ve never actually traveled to it before, so I’m only going off of what my parents-”

“What the fuck is all over your arm?”

“What?”

Geoff quickly walked over to him and grabbed his wrist, inspecting the back of his arm closely. “This! What the fuck is this?”

Gavin looked at what the Trainer was gesturing to, and sure enough, part of his limb was red and splotchy. He frowned, furrowing his brow.

“What the hell…?”

The oldest whipped around, still keeping Gavin’s wrist tight in his grip. “Hey, Jack! Get over here!”

As the Pokemon Doctor hurried over, the Photographer rubbed at his eyes again with his free hand. By this point, everyone had stopped walking to watch what was going on, making Gavin even more worried about them thinking he was crying, but he’d rather they picked it up this way than seeing tears falling down his cheeks.

“What’s wrong?” Jack asked as soon as he got there.

Geoff simply gestured to the splotches on Gavin’s arm; Jack immediately frowned and leaned closer to look at it. He adjusted his glasses and looked up at the older for explanation.

“I don’t know, dude. I just saw them.”

Gavin sniffled and wiped his eyes again. “I didn’t even know they were there until Geoff pointed them out,” he admitted. “I’ve got no idea what they could be from.”

Jack pulled the younger’s hand away and looked at his other arm. “It’s on this one, too,” he stated. “What the fuck is going on?”

Squirming, the Photographer pulled his hand away from the Pokemon Doctor. “Is it anywhere else?”

Geoff finally let go of the other wrist and put a hand on his shoulder, turning him just enough to see his back. “Holy _dicks_ , it’s all over your neck!”

Quickly, Jack whipped Gavin the rest of the way around and gently pressed on it. The younger hissed at the touch, but the ginger ignored it. He pulled the collar of Gavin’s shirt back and peered down it.

“They’re all over his back, too,” he confirmed.

“What even is it?” Gavin asked, craning his head to look at the Gents.

“Urticaria.”

“What?”

“Hives.”

Geoff frowned. “Hives? What the fuck would Gavin be getting hives from?”

Jack shook his head. “I don’t know! I can’t think of anything. Unless…” He paused, realization flooding the expression on his face. “…Gavin, do you have any allergies?”

Rubbing his eyes, the Lad pondered the question. “Not that I know of, no. Why?”

“Just look at you!” he exclaimed. “You’ve got red and watery eyes, a runny nose, and hives! Those are all clear symptoms of an allergic reaction to something.”

Gavin turned back around to face the Gents, biting his lip in thought. “Uh… I mean, there’s some allergies in my family. Do you think I’d have them, too?”

“There’s a pretty fucking good chance. What are they?”

“Um, well… My grandmother was pretty allergic to Pecha berries, but I know I don’t have that because I eat them all the time, plus that couldn’t be it since I haven’t had any recently. And my aunt’s got something with the fur of some Pokemon, but she’s only related because she married my dad’s sister, so I don’t think that’d affect me.”

Geoff crossed his arms. “Okay, what about your immediate family? Like your parents or George?”

“You mean Johnny?”

The oldest sent the other Gent a glare. “He fucking knows what I meant.”

Gavin cocked his head to the side a bit. “I think Mum’s allergic to some kinds of grass and newspaper ink, but Dad’s not got any allergies, and neither does Johnny.”

Jack snapped his fingers. “That must be it!” he exclaimed. “Gavin, weren’t you and Michael fucking around in the grass a little bit ago?”

“Oh!” he muttered. “That’s right! That must be one of the kinds of grass Mum’s allergic to, and I must have that allergy too!”

The Pokemon Doctor quickly pulled off his bag and rummaged through it for a book, which he quickly flipped through as soon as he found it. “Right, so we need to get some antihistamine on that,” he informed. “The sooner the better. And we can find it… Ah! The pollen from a Skiploom has the H1, and a Shellos’s slime contains the H2.”

“And will putting the two of those together get rid of the allergic reaction?” Geoff asked.

Jack raised an eyebrow at him. “Well… Yeah? I mean, it is- Oh! Right, you probably- okay. Antihistamine is the medical term for Benadryl.”

Both Gavin and Geoff let out noises of understanding; chuckling, Jack turned to Ray.

“Can you look up where to find Skiploom and Shellos on your PokeDex?”

Ray nearly flinched, pulling Growlithe just a bit closer to his chest. “I- I can try,” he stammered.

“Great, thank you!”

The youngest set Growlithe back down and pulled out the item, turning his attention to the task at hand. After a moment, he stepped over to the other three and showed them the results.

“They’re both on Route 15,” he informed with a smile. “It says that Skiploom can be found in trees around here, and Shellos are in some ponds in this area.”

“Okay, great,” Geoff replied. “Jack and I will go find them. You guys stay here and keep an eye on Gavin. Make sure he doesn’t get any worse.”

Gavin groaned. “Oh, come on, Geoffrey. I’m pretty sure it’s not going to get any worse.”

Ignoring him, Ryan and Michael joined the others. “We’ll be sure to do that,” Ryan reassured. “If anything happens, we’ll send Ray’s Starly to find you guys.”

Nodding, Jack turned to Geoff. “I’ll find the Skiploom. You try to get a Shellos.”

“Right.”

With that, the two turned and sprinted off into the forest, leaving the Lads and Ryan to themselves. Growlithe brushed up against Gavin’s leg, and the Photographer sat on the ground to let it crawl into his lap. The other three eventually joined him on the ground and struck up a conversation to keep them from falling into boredom as they waited for the other Gents to return.

 

* * *

 

 

It wasn’t long before Geoff had outrun Jack into the forest. As the younger slowed to a stop, he squinted into the distance, but by that point he knew the Trainer was long gone. He stayed still long enough to catch his breath, and then he grabbed a branch of the tree nearest to him and began to climb.

He looked on every branch and in every crevice in the tree, but the only things he could find were a couple of Pineco and a Ledyba. With a sigh, he dropped back to the ground and repeated the process with a couple of more trees, succeeding with the same results. Eventually, he huffed and pulled out a PokeBall the moment his feet hit the ground.

“Taylor, come out.”

The Turtwig chortled and looked up at its owner; Jack crouched down long enough to give it a pet before looking at it seriously.

“I need your help with something,” he stated. “I know how good you are at finding other Pokemon, so I need you to help me find a Skiploom. Think you can do that?”

It nodded and immediately began to dash around, hunting for the Pokemon in question. Jack smiled and stood up to climb into another tree to do the same.

 

* * *

 

 

Geoff knew that he’d left Jack behind a while ago, but he figured that since they were looking for two completely different Pokemon, it wouldn’t quite matter. All that was important right now was getting that Shellos before Gavin’s reaction got worse.

Sooner than he had expected, the oldest was tearing through some shrubbery and bursting into a small clearing. He stopped immediately, taking a beat to stare at the pond and spooked Shellos and Gastrodon. He let out a sigh of relief and flopped face first to the ground; the sound of the Pokemon scurrying off went in one ear and right out the other. He felt like his lungs were on _fire_ , and he needed to get rid of that feeling.

Once he could finally breathe again, Geoff slowly lifted his head and leapt back. A yelp ripped out of his throat, too, and he was surprised that the tiny Shellos in front of him hadn’t sprinted off in fear. It simply stared at him and let out a noise of confusion.

“Uh… hi?”

It inched closer and cried out in approval. As Geoff glanced at it oddly, he couldn’t help but notice that this one seemed to be much smaller than most Shellos were. From what he remembered from when an old friend of his trained one, they usually would be about as tall as his forearm; Geoff thought it would be a miracle if this one could even make it to half of that height. He frowned and leaned in closer to it.

“Um…” He paused. “Why aren’t you running away like the others?”

The little Shellos frowned and looked around, finally realizing that it was alone. Its expression deepened, but it still turned to Geoff and shrugged. The Trainer watched it for a moment before slowly nodded.

“Okay,” he said. Standing up, he moved to look around for the others, but he stopped when he felt something climbing onto his shoe. Glancing down, he saw the little Shellos as it peered up at him and grinned.

He let out a sigh. Maybe this would be harder than he’d thought.

 

* * *

 

 

Jack was nearing the top of his fifth tree when he heard Taylor crying out below him. With a smile, he started to make his way down as the cries grew more and more intense.

“I’m coming, I’m coming! Calm down!”

He grabbed onto the branch and swung to the ground; once his shoes touched the dirt, he looked at his Turtwig and let out a yelp.

“T-Taylor, let it go!” he exclaimed. Quickly, he got to his knees and gently took the Skiploom in his hands. Taylor released its grip on one of the Skiploom’s petals as it let out a noise of apology.

Jack kindly pulled the Pokemon to his chest, holding it softly. “Aw, Taylor, you scared it,” he breathed. “It’s shaking!”

Taylor timidly stepped over next to its owner and put its forelegs on his thighs. Understanding what it wanted to do, the ginger lowered the Skiploom enough so that the Turtwig could nuzzle into its side.

Slowly, the little green Pokemon’s shivers began to die down, and before long, it was completely still in Jack’s arms. He peered at it and smiled.

“Are you okay now?”

It nodded and smiled back, weaker than the one presented to it. Taylor nudged it gently, and Skiploom nuzzled against it in return. Jack let out a soft sigh of relief before standing up.

“Would you mind coming with us for a little bit?” he asked. “One of my friends is having an allergic reaction, and your pollen, along with some other stuff, really helps that kind of thing go away. We’ll bring you right back to where Taylor found you once we’re done. Is that okay?”

It nodded at him with a more confident smile, and Jack grinned.

“Great! Let’s get going, then. I don’t want to keep Gavin waiting.”

 

* * *

 

 

Letting out a growl in frustration, Geoff walked away from the bush and shook his head. “Seriously, where the fuck did the rest of your pack go?” he asked. “It’s like they disappeared into thin fucking air!”

From its spot on his shoulder, the Shellos let out a somewhat sad noise. It slithered down his arm, and knowing what it wanted, Geoff lowered his arm to the ground. Shellos crawled over to the pond with a frown.

Geoff stared at it for a beat before walking over and sitting next to it. He sighed and glanced at the pink Pokemon. “Alright, look. Since the others aren’t around, would you be willing to help me with something?” he asked.

It perked up, cocking its head in curiosity. Slowly, it nodded.

“So, I have this one friend, right?” he began. “Well, I’ve got a lot, actually. I’m traveling with five other guys. But one of them- his name’s Gavin –he and one of the other guys were fucking around this morning, and they ended up rolling around in the grass for whatever reason. Probably because they’re fucking idiots.”

Shellos frowned, and Geoff realized it was wondering where he was going with this. He internally winced and kept going.

“Well, it turns out that Gavin’s allergic to the grass they were rolling around in. So he started getting watery eyes and sniffling like a mother fucker, and his skin started breaking out where he’d touched it, and all of that shit. One of our other friends is a Pokemon Doctor, so he was pretty quick to come up with some anti-allergy medication. And we need some of your slime to make it,” he concluded.

Immediately, the Shellos began to rub its body onto Geoff’s hand, trying to put some of its slime onto it, but the Trainer laughed and pushed it away.

“No, dude, I’m gonna need more than that,” he chuckled. “What I’m asking is if you could come with me for a little bit so we can make it. I’ll bring you right back, I swear.”

It nodded and crawled onto his lap; he grinned and got up, scooping the little Shellos into his arms as he began to walk out of the clearing.

“Great. Thanks! I’m sure Gavin will fucking love you, too. He’s a-”

A loud ruckus from the opposite side of the clearing broke the sentence off, and Geoff snapped around to see what was going on.

A Rhydon was chasing a Torchic through the little bit of field on the other side of the pond, and the little fire type was screeching with its eyes shut tightly. Because of this, it couldn’t see where it was going, and Geoff was forced to watch in horror as it ran straight into the water. The Rhydon, figuring that the other Pokemon was probably dead anyways, turned and stalked away without missing a beat.

Geoff immediately set the Shellos on the ground and started sprinting towards the pond, stripping down to his underwear as he went. He dove in as soon as he reached the edge; the Trainer stayed under long enough to spot the bright orange Pokemon before resurfacing and starting to stroke towards it.

Once he was close enough, he dove back under and scooped the now unconscious Torchic into his arms. He was quick to climb out of the water, and he rushed to the other side to pick up his scarf and wrap it up. Geoff merely picked his clothes up hastily and let Shellos climb onto his shoulder.

“We need to find Jack,” he informed. “He’s my friend who’s a Pokemon Doctor. I think this Torchic might need help once it wakes up.”

He began to hurry through the forest as soon as he was sure that Shellos was settled on his shoulder.

 

* * *

 

 

Jack hadn’t even been back for five minutes when Geoff came sprinting in, wearing nothing but his boxers and carrying a Shellos on his shoulder and a pile of clothes in his arms. The Lads burst into laughter at the sight, but Ryan and Jack were quick to get up, seeing the worried expression on his face.

“What the fuck happened when you were looking for that Shellos?” Michael laughed.

Geoff glared at him as a reply. Jack moved to take the Shellos, but the Trainer shook his head and held out the clothes.

“Look, after I found Shellos and convinced it to come with me, this Torchic fell into the pond because it was hauling ass away from a Rhydon, and I need you to look at it. I don’t know if it’s hurt or not.”

Glancing down, Jack saw the Fire Type wrapped up in the scarf and immediately picked it up. Ryan took Shellos, and Geoff began to warily pull his clothes back on.

By this point, the Lads had gone silent. Gavin shot the other two a worried look, and Ray bit his lip. There was a long moment where everyone had paused to watch Jack, and when he sighed in relief, their muscles tensed.

“I think it’s fine,” he stated. “It only passed out from fear, from what I can tell. It’s just wet now.”

Geoff let out a groan of relief, leaving his last shoe on the ground to take the Fire Type back. “Thank Mew. I thought it might’ve been dead for a little bit.”

Laughing shortly, Jack shook his head. “Nah, it’s fine. Ryan, can I see that Shellos?”

“Absolutely.”

It wasn’t long before they were simply sitting and waiting for Jack to finish making the medication. Skiploom had taken to curling up with Growlithe, while the Shellos had made its way over to Gavin and sat in his lap. The Photographer was taking his profession to heart and snapping photos of the Water Type in every angle he could get at this position. Ryan and the other two Lads were talking quietly, and Geoff was carefully watching the Torchic in his arms, willing it to wake up so he could make sure it was okay.

Jack eventually stood up, heading over to Gavin and pulling out a water bottle before offering both it and a pill to the younger. “That should do it,” he informed. “Just take that and your reaction should go away.”

Gavin hesitated; Michael reached over and pulled Shellos out of his lap. “...Does it have to be in pill form?”

“It’s either that or just powder,” he replied. “Would you rather swallow a bunch of powder and risk choking, or swallow a small pill and be done with it?”

“…I’ve never taken a pill.”

Everyone paused.

“I… What?” Ryan said.

“I said, I’ve never taken a pill,” Gavin repeated.

“How the fuck have you never taken a pill?” Michael asked. “What the fuck did you do when you were sick as a kid?”

“I only ever needed medicine a couple of times, and it was always available as a liquid!” he exclaimed. “There was never any need!”

Geoff stood up, still cradling the Torchic, and walked over to Gavin long enough to slap him on the back. “Well, buddy, it looks like you’re making a milestone today. Better man up and take that shit.”

As Gavin hesitantly took the offered items out of Jack’s hands, Michael scoffed. “Right, because only men can be brave,” he sarcastically muttered.

The Photographer stared at the pill in his hands, shakily taking a couple of deep breaths. He glanced up at Jack a couple of times and opened his mouth to protest, but each time he hesitated and shut it again. Everyone was watching the Lad expectantly; Gavin bit his lip under the pressure.

Michael suddenly groaned and threw his head back. “For Mew’s sake, Gavin, just take the Mew damn pill! Fucking Arceus…”

Gavin shook his head. “I don’t think I can do it,” he muttered.

“Fucking hell, I never imagined the Great Gavin Free would be taken down by a tiny ass pill! It’s not even that fucking big!”

“Michael,” Ryan snapped.

With a small sigh, Jack crouched next to the younger and placed a hand on his back, maneuvering it to make sure it wouldn’t hit the reaction. “Come on, he’s got a point,” he softly reminded. “It’ll take maybe five seconds at the most, if you do it right. Just throw it in and chug.”

“But I can’t do that!” Gavin exclaimed. “It’s complicated!”

“Then don’t think about it,” Jack replied. “Just do it. It’s not that hard. We can distract you, if you want.”

The Gubbin Native hesitated. “…Maybe.”

A stuttering from Ray cut through the conversation; the youngest flushed when all eyes turned to him. “S- Sorry… Uh, what if you just think of it as swallowing some candy whole?” he asked. “Like an M&M or something. Have you ever done something like that before?”

A grin broke onto the Photographer’s face, and he laughed. “Why the hell would I have ever done anything like that?”

“Have _you_?” Geoff asked the younger Trainer.

Ray swallowed. “I- I- Only a couple of times,” he stammered. “A couple of my cousins were calling me a pussy because I was scared to swallow stuff whole, so they made me do it…”

Shaking his head, Geoff snorted. “You’ve got a weird couple of cousins there, kid.”

There was a beat of silence, and then Gavin abruptly glanced down at the pill, shoved it in his mouth, and chugged a good portion of the water down. The others recoiled a bit when he gagged and some of the water came flying out, but when he opened his mouth to catch his breath and there was no pill evident, they erupted into cheers.

“Way to go, buddy!”

“Nicely done!”

“Fucking finally! It took you, like, a million fucking years!”

“Congrats, man!”

Ray reached over and held out his fist, and Gavin bumped it before wiping his mouth. He shivered and took another drink.

“That was bloody awful,” he groaned. “I never want to do that again.”

As Shellos rubbed into his stomach, Growlithe trotted over and nuzzled his side. Skiploom followed their actions and floated over to Gavin’s head; the Photographer giggled and held out his camera towards the others.

“Can someone grab a picture of this or something?”

Ryan took the object with a smile and a headshake. “You and your pictures…” Regardless, the Breeder snapped the photo, and then Geoff was trading the Torchic for Shellos.

“Watch over it, okay?” he firmly stated. “Don’t fucking drop it. And I mean it. I will personally kick your fucking ass if you do.” With that, he turned towards the others. “I’m gonna go take Shellos back. I promised I wouldn’t keep it for long.”

Jack hummed and lifted the Skiploom into his arms. “I should do the same thing. Will you guys be alright on your own for just a little longer?”

Michael rolled his eyes. “Oh, give it a rest. We’re not five.”

“I never said you were!”

“He’s only implying that you guys are irresponsible as dicks,” Geoff called over his shoulder as he walked off.

Glaring, the Ranger got to his feet. “You wanna say that to my fucking face?”

“I just did, dickhead!”

Ryan gently placed a hand on the auburn haired’s shoulder, rolling his eyes; Jack snickered and followed the oldest.

“We’ll be back in a bit, and then we’ll hit the road again. That should be kicking in pretty soon, Gavin, but it might make you drowsy. Don’t be afraid to take a nap!”

It was Gavin’s turn to roll his eyes. “Yeah, yeah, I won’t.”

Jack smiled and turned, walking towards the forest again. He’d only made it about two steps into it when he perked up and turned back around.

“Oh, and Gavin- Oh.”

Somehow, in that span of a few seconds, the Photographer had drooped to the ground, curling up and passing out immediately. Jack and Skiploom shared an amused look before the Pokemon Doctor giggled and turned back around, knowing very well deep down that they were going to be just fine.

 

* * *

 

 

"Hey, Adriana, you've got a package!"

Mrs. Narvaez turned away from her rose bush at the sound of her neighbor's voice. She gave him a smile and a raised eyebrow.

"And how do you know that, Gray?" she asked.

He walked over and offered a small box to her. "I stopped by the post office to pick something up for Professor Hullum, and they asked me to deliver it for them." Gray tapped the box with a smile. "I think you're going to like it, though, considering who sent it." With a satisfied smirk, he said goodbye and started to head back to his house.

Adriana stared at him for a moment as he went, puzzled at his choice of words. She looked down to the box and softly gasped when she caught sight of the return address.

_Ray Narvaez Jr._

_639 Little Street_

_Gubbin City_

Quickly, she scurried inside, finding a pair of scissors as soon as she could and carefully dragging the blade over the tape until there was enough space to stick her fingers in it and tear it open. Inside was a green picture frame with black polka dots, and a folded up piece of paper. She gently picked up the paper and unfolded it, reading it over as tears started to form in her eyes.

 

_Dear Mom,_

_I'm really really really sorry that I haven't talked to you at all since I left. I've gotten really caught up in my journey and haven't gotten a chance to do anything until now. But I've thought about you a lot, I promise! I've just been really busy. But my friend Ryan and I were talking about our families today, and it made me really miss you, so I stayed up extra late tonight so I could write this!_

_I've made a bunch of friends so far. I'm traveling with a lot of them, too! For the past couple of months, I've been traveling with these guys named Gavin Free, Ryan Haywood, Michael Jones (and his Growlithe), Jack Pattillo, and Geoff Ramsey. Did we ever know Geoff? He grew up in Dirtbag Town. I don't remember him if we did._

_But anyways. I met Gavin first. He's a Pokemon Photographer. He was passed out in the river on Route 17, and if it hadn't have been for Cyndaquil, I never would have seen him! But I got him out, and he was okay. He kind of just decided to travel with me without me having a say in it, but I'm really glad he did that. He's really nice! Kind of bad at paying attention, and scatterbrained, but he always tries his hardest to make sure the rest of us aren't upset. He's been really great about my anxiety and made sure I haven't been uncomfortable since they found out about my disorder, too!_

_And then Gavin and I met Ryan a couple of days later. He saved me from burning off my face, and then he agreed to come with us to Entity City, and then he just... Didn't leave, I guess. But that's okay, because we really like him. He's a Pokemon Breeder, all the way from Canalave City in Sinnoh! He loves singing showtunes and has a really bad habit of singing without realizing it, but it's nice because he has a beautiful voice. He told me that I can come to him if I ever want to talk about anything, and he's really good at keeping the fighting low._

_We met Michael and Growlithe after Ryan, when Gavin made an Ursaring mad and they saved us. He's a Pokemon Ranger, and Growlithe is his partner Pokemon. They're from Almia. Isn't that where my cousin Louisa went for Operator training? Anyway, Michael's really great. He's super protective of us all. I can't count the amount of times he's saved us from wild Pokemon! But he's really stubborn, too. I think he was really sick when we first made it to Gubbin this week, but he won't tell us what was wrong. I'm really worried about him._

_But his Growlithe is great, too! It's really good at picking up if we're upset or something, and it immediately comes to us and tries to comfort us. It's really sweet and adorable! It kind of reminds me of our Meowth that we used to have._

_A couple of days after we met Michael, we got to Salubrity Town where we met Jack. He's a Pokemon Doctor, and I swear he's got the biggest heart around! His parents were less than willing to let him come with us, but we eventually convinced them to let him go. He's really good at what he does, too! You don't have to worry if I ever get hurt or sick, because he instantly starts to take care of us when something like that happens. I got sick in Entity City, and he was there the entire time taking care of me, and the only time he wasn't was when he had to go get medicine. And when Michael twisted his knee when we first met, Jack carried Michael the entire way back to his house! He's the nicest guy out of all of us, I think. He's not afraid to throw what he wants away for us. He reminds me of a mom, a little bit. I think that's why I haven't gotten as homesick as I thought I would._

_And then we met Geoff. He was kind of... really mean when we first met him. But I guess that was because a lot of stuff had been going wrong for him for the past couple of days, so once all of that was fixed, he turned out to be a really great guy! He's a Pokemon Trainer like I am, and he's REALLY strong! He's been on a few journeys before this one, I guess. He and I have gotten really close since we met, since he decided he was gonna help me a lot with my Training. Plus he knows how to calm me down from panic attacks! I don't know where he learned it, because when I had it it seemed like he's done it before lots of times, but it's really great that he knows! Plus it's like he knows when to be gentle with me, and when I want to get away from Gavin and Michael (since they argue a lot). He kind of reminds me of Dad, a little bit._

_Geoff and I have each gotten or are about to get two badges- the Epsilon Badges, from the Entity City Gym, and the Sigma Badges from Gubbin! I got my Sigma Badge today, and Geoff's going for it tomorrow, but I'm sure he'll get it on his first try. Like I said, he's really strong. Actually, the gym here is run by Gavin's best friend, and Gubbin City is where he grew up! (That's why you won't be able to write back to me. I mean, you can, but it would go to Gavin's house, since that's the return address, and I don't think I'd get it. Sorry...)_

_Oh!! And I've caught two Pokemon so far- a Budew and a Starly, and Cyndaquil evolved today during the battle into a Quilava! It ended up getting hurt when it was evolving, and that's kind of my fault. But it's still a Quilava now! Isn't that awesome?_

_I'm sending you a picture frame along with this letter. The picture is one that Gavin took the day that we made it to Entity City. We stopped to eat at some restaurant after we spent the day in Cinder Park, and Gavin was taking pictures of everyone while we were waiting for our food. I was wet because Ryan splashed me with water when we were at the big fountain. I thought you would really like this one, but I wouldn't care if you wanted to take that picture out and put one of us with Dad in it instead. I totally get it._

_I'll try to call you as soon as I can. That probably won't be until we get to the next town, since tomorrow's Geoff's battle, and the day after is a costume contest that Gavin and Ryan are entering and we plan on leaving as soon as that's over. So it won't be for a while, but I promise it will be as soon as I get access to a video phone._

_I love you, Mama. I miss you!!_

_Love,_

_-Ray <3_

 

Rubbing her eyes free of tears, Adriana pressed the letter to her chest and laughed. A soft smile spread over her lips, and she shut her eyes.

"I miss you too, my Little Ray of Sunshine," she whispered.

After a moment, she folded the letter back up and set it aside. Turning back to the box, she pulled out the photo, looking it over with great care and attention.

The lighting in the restaurant was quite dim, but the details were still there and easy to see. It appeared that there were three people on each side of the booth, and whoever took the picture was in the middle of the opposite side. Ray was sat closest to the wall, pressed up against it by a man with glasses, a ginger beard, and a yellow, long sleeved shirt. Ray had an elbow on the table, and he was looking at whoever was beside the photographer with his cheek resting on his hand. A large smile had formed on his face, the kind that made his eyes crinkle and his nose scrunch up. His hair was damp, as was the sleeveless sweatshirt Adriana remembered buying for him the week before he left. There was a light in his eyes that didn't come from the lightbulbs above them, and that definitely couldn't have existed if he had stayed at home.

With another slightly tearful smile, Adriana got up, picture frame in hand, and walked over to the staircase. The wall was covered in tons of frames already, each one with a family photo or individual pictures, but she found a place to hang this frame. Once it was up, she took a step back to look it over.

As she looked at it, a pang of sadness spread through her chest. A realization that she couldn't be with her little boy as these things were happening broke her heart a little, but she knew that there was nothing to worry about. If what he said was true, and his new friends were as great as he was saying they were, she knew that he would be in good hands as his journey continued.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed!!
> 
> And... Sorry that it's kinda short. I didn't realize how short it was until just now. Sorry!!
> 
> Thanks for 2500 hits, you guys!!! It means so much that people are enjoying this!!! Thank you thank you thank you!!!
> 
> [Comfort Gavin Button]  
> [Comfort Adriana Button]


	32. Torchic Escapes! Ray Makes a Friend!!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After an argument between Gavin and Michael, the Torchic runs off, and the Achievement Hunters are faced with the task of trying to find it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beacon Region Map: http://sweetiecurfyart.tumblr.com/post/111232399174/here-it-is-a-map-of-the-beacon-region-used
> 
> Art will be posted: sweetiecurfyart.tumblr.com  
>  Follow me on Twitter under @Sweetie_Curfy  
>  Support me on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/sweetiecurfy?ty=h

_“For fuck’s sake.”_

_Ray whipped around at the voice, seeing Geoff standing behind him. He furrowed his brow, knowing that he hadn’t been there before, but he shook it off in favor of running towards him. Before he could make it, however, the oldest held out his hand and glared at him._

_“Why didn’t you take out Budew, or even that weak fucking Starly of yours?! At least it wouldn’t have been as affected by their Rollout! And seriously, pretty much the only thing you did was fucking dodge! That’s absolutely no way to battle! What the fuck were you thinking?!”_

_Geoff reached forward and shoved him. “Why don’t you just fucking go home already? No one likes you anyways! Just get the fuck out of here!”_

_Ray stumbled back, but caught his balance after a moment. On shaky legs, he looked up at the older Trainer. “B-But I thought you said…”_

_“I was lying!” Geoff snapped. “How fucking hard is it for you to realize that?! What makes you think that anyone likes you? We’re all just waiting for you to turn around and go back to Nucom, and the second you do, we’re going to have the biggest fucking celebration ever because you’ll finally be gone, and we won’t have to worry about your fucked up anxiety disorder anymore!”_

_He pushed Ray again, this time knocking him to the ground. The youngest slammed into his knee, causing him to yelp in pain._

_“Geoff…!”_

_“You’re just a fucking weak ass excuse for a Trainer! Like anyone’s ever going to remember you! You’re just a huge ass piece of shit!”_

_Before Ray could even open his mouth, Geoff reached back and threw a Pokeball that the younger hadn’t even realized he’d had._

_“Sableye, go!”_

_The Trainer froze. Looking around, he saw that he was suddenly back in the clearing he’d been in when they’d first met Team Freelancer. His breath caught in his throat, and a weight dropped onto his chest. This couldn’t be happening. Not again. Not again. Not again._

_“Use Scratch on the kid.”_

_His head snapped up, and he snatched Cyndaquil into his arms and turned, feeling the Ghost Pokémon’s claws rip into his upper arm. He let out a scream before he felt a pair of arms pulling him up and away._

Ray’s scream cut off in a strangled manner as he shot up. Immediately, he began to gasp for air, trying to rid the weight that remained on his chest. His head was swimming and his heart was pounding and his mind was racing; looking around, he tried to regain his grip on reality, but it just _didn’t seem real_. He squeezed his eyes shut and placed a hand on his chest.

He was going to die, in the middle of the night, and his friends were going to wake up to a corpse.

A whimper choked out of his throat before he pulled his knees out of his sleeping bag and up to his chest. Even he could feel his own trembles at this point. He couldn’t believe this was happening. This _couldn’t_ be happening. There was still so much of the journey left, and they were so far away from any towns! What would they do with his body? Would they have to carry it to the next town, or would they leave it in the forest?

Ray shook his head quickly. He knew, deep down, that he was going to be fine. It was just a panic attack. He could handle this. He _should_ be able to handle this. Yet here he was…

He almost didn’t register it, but a pair of arms were wrapping around the trembling Lad as his panicked thoughts rushed through his mind. He absentmindedly uncurled and clung to whoever it was tightly. A soft rumbling was pushing through the other’s chest as he was pulled into their lap, and it took a moment before he fully registered what it was- singing.

He felt a hand gently running through his hair, and a set of lips resting just above his ear. Ray _wanted_ to hear the singing, so awfully, but with his head in such a state, it was impossible. A whisper cut off the rumbles and broke into his thoughts, somehow.

“Come on, Ray, just breathe.”

The voice was soft and gentle, a coaxing rather than a demand. The Trainer tried his hardest to comply, even though it was extremely hard.

“Focus on me. Focus on the music. Can you do that?”

Ray nodded, and the humming picked up right where it had left off. The two stayed in that position, with Ray listening and the other keeping his voice quiet and gentle.

He didn’t know how long they stayed like that, but eventually, his lungs had a sufficient amount of air in them and his heart had slowed down to a reasonable pace. Despite the fact that he was quite calm now, the feeling of impending doom was still clinging to him, so he in turn continued to cling to whoever it was holding him.

There was a long pause of silence as the humming finished; the other shifted and whispered, “Are you okay now?”

The youngest maneuvered his face to peer at who had stayed with him long enough for him to calm down- Ryan. The Breeder was staring at him with concerned eyes, and the look pressured Ray into burying his face back into the older’s chest.

“Are the others sleeping still?” he muttered.

“Yes. We’re the only ones up.”

Ray shuffled a bit. “I- I’m sorry if I woke you. I didn’t mean to.”

Ryan let out a noise of disagreement. “No, I was already awake. I’m glad I was, though, since you had this.”

The Trainer wondered why Ryan had been awake, but he didn’t want to pry into information that wasn’t his. Instead, he loosened his grip a little and asked, “What time is it?”

“I’m not sure. Probably around two or three.”

Frowning, Ray looked up to him again, unintentionally shooting him a quizzical look. Ryan laughed quietly.

“Are you sure I didn’t wake you?” the younger questioned.

Ryan nodded. “Positive. I couldn’t sleep at all. Jack was snoring earlier,” he snickered. Ray let out a low laugh.

“I didn’t know he snored.”

A loud rumbling came roaring from across the campsite, making the youngest flinch. There was a beat of silence until the noise came again, and it hit him what it was. He looked over and laughed, feeling Ryan do the same.

“Well, now you do,” Ryan pointed out. “We should probably be doing the same, though. Will you be okay on your own, or do you want me to move my sleeping bag over here? I won’t mind.”

Ray tightened his grip a bit, swallowing thickly. “…Would it be a problem?” he timidly whispered.

Without saying a word, Ryan gently pushed Ray back onto his own sleeping bag and got up. Within a minute, the Breeder’s was next to his own, and they were crawling into them. They each rolled onto their sides so they were facing each other, and after a moment, Ryan let out a low sigh.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

Ray simply shook his head.

“Okay. If you need to, remember that I’m always willing to listen, okay?”

He nodded.

They fell into a comfortable silence. Ray was asleep in minutes. Ryan didn’t do the same.

 

* * *

 

 

When the morning came, Geoff didn’t question it when he saw that he was the last Gent to get up. He watched Ryan, Jack, and Michael setting up for breakfast for just a minute before standing and joining them wordlessly.

After he placed the last of the bowls down, he got to his feet again and let out a sigh. “Thank fucking Arceus that’s done,” he muttered. “I fucking hate doing that.”

“Then why’d you volunteer yourself?” Michael laughed.

Geoff shook his head and started to walk over to him. “I dunno, dude, I just- whoa, shit!”

The Gent nearly fell and had to catch himself when a Pokemon frantically ran past his feet; he snapped his head to look at it and let out a gasp. Michael leapt to his feet and instantly began to chase it.

“Shit, Jack! That Torchic Geoff found yesterday is up!”

The Pokemon Doctor quickly turned from the food to look. “Holy shit! That’s a fast little fucker.”

Ryan and Geoff followed in Michael’s actions, and soon after, Growlithe had joined. When the Torchic caught sight of Growlithe, it screeched and sped up.

“Calm the fuck down, you little bitch!” Michael snapped. “We just want to fucking help you and see if your little ass is alright!”

“I don’t think swearing at it is gonna help,” Ryan pointed out.

As they sprinted past the area with the sleeping bags, Gavin shot up with a yelp. Disoriented, he watched them go, running a hand through his already horrendous hair.

“What the hell…?”

He sat up straighter when he saw the little Torchic in the front of the group. Slowly, he got to his feet and began to follow at a much slower pace.

Meanwhile, the others were getting closer and closer to it. They somehow managed to turn it around when they got to the edge of the clearing and started chasing it back towards the others. Michael, figuring that they were close enough, lunged towards it, arms extended; Growlithe followed suit. They both missed and landed hard on the ground, ultimately causing Ryan and Geoff to trip on them and fall on top of the pile.

Gavin laughed loudly as he watched the entire ordeal. When he saw the Torchic coming near him, he simply crouched down and scooped it into his arms. He felt it shaking, and he immediately frowned.

“Aww, you guys! You scared it! The poor thing’s bloody tremblin’!” he called over.

Shoving Geoff off of him, Michael looked at the Photographer. “Are you fucking kidding me?! After all that, Gavin fucking catches it?! He wasn’t even trying!”

The younger shot him a glare, but turned away regardless and started to head towards Jack. “Come on, little guy. You’re alright. Just wanna make sure you’re okay, yeah?”

The other four watched him walk off; Ryan sat up and pulled Growlithe into his own arms as he shot the other two a confused look.

“How the fuck did he do that?”

Jack met Gavin halfway and gently took the Torchic out of his arms. There was a moment of quiet while he looked over it and the others made their way over. The ginger shrugged and was about to set it down when he suddenly frowned and looked closer at it.

“What the fuck…?”

Gavin stiffened. “Is something wrong with it?”

The older shook his head slowly before digging his fingers into the Torchic’s feathers on its chest. Michael snorted.

“What the fuck are you doing?” he asked.

Before anyone could reply, Jack pulled a small, metal chain from the mass of feathers. On the end was a tiny, circular charm that glinted in the morning light. Jack’s frown deepened.

“This Torchic belongs to someone,” he mumbled.

There was a beat of silence as the others processed the statement, and then they each turned to their own reaction. Geoff frowned, his confused gaze looking up at the clouds; Ryan copied the actions, except he looked towards the trees nearby. Michael raised his eyebrows in understanding.

Gavin, however, glared and hastily yanked the Torchic out of Jack’s arms. “Well- well if that bloody Trainer was so- so damn _ignorant_ to let her Torchic run off like that… Be chased by a Mew damn Rhydon and not give a shit –then maybe it’s better that we found it! Keep the poor thing out of her mistreatin’ hands, yeah?” he snapped. The Torchic squirmed in his arms, but he held it protectively close to his chest.

“Mew damn, Gavin,” Michael sighed, “Where the hell are you getting that idea from?”

“That’s how it _always_ happens,” the younger growled. “I’ve never come across a stray Pokemon that _wasn’t_ abandoned by its Trainer.”

“Except, we totally have?” the Ranger retorted. “Remember that Magnemite, and the flock Ray’s Starly came from, and those Pokemon yesterday? We come across Pokemon that weren’t abandoned all the time!”

Ryan stepped in before another word could be said. “Gavin, Michael has a point. We don’t know anything about Torchic’s Trainer. You can’t just go jumping to conclusions like that.”

The Photographer huffed. “Yeah, but-”

“Dude, I learned a long fucking time ago that you can’t base shit on what you’ve learned in the past,” Geoff stated. “Give its Trainer a chance! You haven’t even met the guy yet! He could be nice as dicks, but you wouldn’t know because you already hate him so fucking much.”

“Where the fuck are you guys getting the idea that you know what gender Torchic’s Trainer is?” Michael groaned. “What the hell makes you think they’re a guy, or a girl?”

Gavin glared at the auburn haired steadily.

_“It’s my Pokemon!” the girl snapped. “I was the one who caught it! It belongs to me!”_

_“You mistreated it and left it to die in an alley!” Gavin shouted in return. “There’s no bloody way I’m gonna let you have it back!”_

_She snarled before lunging at him with a scream._

“…Past experiences,” Gavin muttered.

Jack rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. “We already got that, Gav. Seriously, just let it go.”

A hum began to sneak out of Ryan, but before he could even get five notes out, Geoff whipped around and slapped a hand over his mouth. The shock was enough to cut the music off.

“Ryan, I swear to Mew, if you’re singing what I think you’re singing, I will rip your fucking dick off and feed it to Growlithe.”

He cautiously pulled his hand away, and the Breeder began to laugh nervously. “S-Sorry…”

Growlithe shuffled out of his arms and began to run down towards the sleeping bags; when the others turned to watch, they saw the youngest tiredly rubbing his eyes as he dodged the Fire Type. He slowed to a stop when he looked up and saw the rest of them staring at him.

“…What did I miss?”

 

* * *

 

 

The Achievement Hunters hit the road only a couple of hours later, but the tensions between Michael and Gavin were still high. They stood as far away from each other as they could as they lead the group down the path, with Torchic still in Gavin’s arms and Growlithe walking nervously next to Michael. The Gents had opted to stay a safe distance behind them, and Ray was sure to keep close behind the older three.

“Hey, Geoff? Do you have any idea how close the next Pokemon Center is?” Gavin asked, as if nothing was happening.

Geoff paused at the casualty, but quickly regained his composure to reply. “Well… Now that I think about it, Griffon mentioned something when we were in Johto about traveling for about a week between Gubbin and Cultivate,” he mused, “So I’d say maybe a couple of days or something.”

“Did you guys travel through Johto together?” Ryan questioned.

A fond smile formed on Geoff’s lips, and he nodded slowly. “Yeah. We started dating while we were doing that, actually. That was probably the best journey of my entire career… No offense to you guys, of course. It’s just Griffon. You know,” he explained. He paused before adding in a softer voice, “I’d like to do it again someday…”

Ryan hummed in understanding. There was a beat of silence, and then the Breeder was straightening. “Wait, Gavin, don’t you know this area already? Why did you need to ask?”

“Just because I grew up here doesn’t mean I know every bit of this area,” he replied.

A scoff echoed from across the path, and the Photographer snapped his head towards the Ranger.

“What?” he deadpanned. “I’d like to see you navigate the areas two day’s walk from where you grew up. You’re no better than I am, and you bloody know it.”

“Oh, yeah?” Michael sneered. “Well, at least I have enough of a brain to get a general idea of where the fuck I am and not get everyone lost every other fucking day.”

Gavin’s mouth dropped open, and he turned to look at the others. Each of the Gents’ eyes were wide with shock, and Ray had subtly hid himself behind Jack with a worried look on his face. Shutting his mouth and situating a glare on his face, the Photographer looked back to the auburn haired.

“At least _I_ don’t try to act like the bloody hero every day,” he retorted.

Michael glared harder at the space in front of him, but otherwise did nothing to change his posture. “At least I don’t leave for over two months and not tell anyone.”

“At least I don’t have any deadly diseases and then not bother to tell anyone what they are.”

The older’s fists clenched tightly. “At least I actually pay attention to what’s going on around me.”

“At least I know my damn limits.”

“At least I’m able to see other people’s limits.”

“At least I can control my temper.”

“At least I know not to assume someone’s gender.”

“At least I’m not a whiny little bitch when I’m in a bad mood.”

Michael stopped dead in his tracks; in a second, he’d whipped his head towards the younger. “You take that back,” he hissed.

Realizing that he’d struck a chord, Gavin stopped walking and smirked at the Ranger. “What? That you’re a little bitch?” he snarkily replied. “You’re such a _girl_ , Mi-cool. Maybe we should just start calling you Michelle instead. That’d fit who you are better than your name now, wouldn’t it?”

A growl ripped out of the Ranger’s throat before he launched himself at Gavin; Growlithe jumped in front of him, barking wildly, and in the time it took for Michael to get around it, Ryan leapt forward to hold him back.

“Michael Jones, that is _enough!_ ” he shouted. Once the younger had stopped struggling, he pushed him back and whirled around to look at Gavin. “And that goes for both of you! Quit your Mew damn bickering!”

Pulling the now-squirming Torchic closer to his chest, Gavin huffed and looked at the ground. “He started it…”

“Yeah?” the Breeder said, raising his eyebrows. “Well, you’re instigating.”

A tense silence filled the air, thick enough that Ray’s chest tightened and he curled in on himself a little. After a thick swallow, he bit his lip timidly and began to play with the hem of his sweatshirt. He almost let out a yelp when he felt an arm roughly wrap around his shoulders and pull him close.

“Oh, stop your yelling. You’re scaring Ray!” Geoff stated.

Quickly, Ray ripped himself out of the grip and stumbled a few steps back. “N-No, I’m fine, I’m okay,” he hastily replied. _I don’t need to be babied. Arceus._

A look of guilt immediately formed on Gavin’s face. “Oh, damn, are you having an anxiety attack?” he asked. “We’re really sorry, we didn’t mean to set you off.”

“I’m not having an anxiety attack,” Ray breathed.

Oblivious to it, Michael nodded. “Yeah, we’ll stop fighting. We shouldn’t have been doing it in the first place. Really sorry.”

“I’m _not_ having an anxiety attack,” he repeated, just a bit louder.

“Do we need to take a break?” Ryan questioned. “It wouldn’t be a big deal. I doubt it would set us back too-”

“I’m _not_ having an anxiety attack!” Ray suddenly shouted. His eyes shut, and he turned his face towards the ground as the words burst out of his mouth.

He wanted to take them back immediately after they were gone. Tentatively, he looked up at the rest of the Achievement Hunters where the thick silence was radiating for the second time in the past few minutes. Each of them (with the exception of Torchic, who was still trying to escape Gavin’s hold) was staring at him with wide and concerned eyes. Regret pooled into his stomach, and his face rapidly heated up when he realized that he’d probably made them all pissed off at him.

With embarrassment and fear fueling his anger, Ray gripped the strap of his backpack and stormed past them all to start down the path again.

“Let’s just go already, okay?!”

The others gave each other hesitant glances before doing as the youngest asked. Growlithe moved to jump to Ray, but Michael scooped it up before it could even get close.

“Maybe we should just leave him alone for a while,” he whispered to it. “I don’t think he really wants to interact with anyone right now. Probably doesn’t want anyone touching him, either. You know how he is when he has his anxiety attacks.”

“It’s _not_ an anxiety attack!”

Everyone got the vibe that that wasn’t completely true.

 

* * *

 

 

The group walked in heavy silence for a couple of hours after that, and it made Ray _so_ Mew damn frustrated and pissed off. He knew they were watching him; he could almost literally feel their eyes on his back. He knew that Jack and Geoff were shooting worried looks at each other, and Gavin and Michael doing the same with guilty ones. He knew Ryan was probably struggling to not sing out of stress every minute.

Ray hated it. He wanted them to just ignore him and the way he’d snapped earlier. He wished they would just go back to what they usually did, where the Gents discussed the next gym and Gavin and Michael wrestled and played roughly with each other. He wanted to turn around and yell at them, because he was _fine_ , and he _still_ didn’t need to be treated so fragily, and _no, I don’t want your help, I went all of my life up until almost three months ago without your help and I can continue on without it_ , and, okay, yeah, this frustration was definitely starting to cause an anxiety attack.

He bit his lip. After all of that though, all of his denying that he wasn’t having an anxiety attack… They wouldn’t want to hear it. They probably never wanted to hear about it in the first place. Ray figured they were all annoyed as shit with him by now, and the only reason they were still traveling with him was because they didn’t want to be rude. He doubted they even liked him at all at this point.

The fear and anger bubbling in his chest caused his stomach to do a flip, and he winced just a little. If anyone saw it, they didn’t say anything, thank Arceus. Ray swallowed thickly before pausing his walking long enough to pull off his bag and start rifling through it.

“X-Ray, what’re you doing?” Gavin asked, breaking the silence for the first time in hours.

“Just grabbing something,” he huffed in reply. He winced at how rude he sounded; they _definitely_ wouldn’t want to travel with him after that. “It’s nothing. Don’t worry about it.”

Another tense silence filled the air, and Ray was thankful that he found what he was looking for seconds into it. As soon as he pulled it out, he threw his bag back over his shoulder, shoved the earbuds in, and started blasting calm music. It blocked out the silence well enough, and Ray could finally start calming down.

The calm only lasted for a couple of minutes before some frantic shouting came from behind him. He turned to look in time to catch a flash of orange from the corner of his eye, and after a beat, it clicked that Gavin no longer had the Torchic in his arms. The Photographer in question sprinted past him at light speed; the others weren’t far behind. Ray sighed, pulled his earbuds out and into his pocket, and hurried after them.

Once he caught up to them, he asked, “What the hell happened? Why’s Torchic running?”

“It squirmed out of… Gavin’s grip and just… took off,” Jack explained through his gasps for air.

“Holy shit, dude, you sound like you’re having a…” Michael paused, sparing a glance at Ray. “Uh- nevermind.”

“I know… what you mean,” the Pokemon Doctor responded. “And I’m not. I’m just… fucking fat.”

“Aw, come on, Jack,” Geoff laughed. “You don’t have to be so vain.”

“Can we discuss this after we get Torchic back, please?” Ryan huffed. “If it’s someone else’s, I _really_ don’t want to lose it.”

The others turned their attention back to the situation at hand and fell back into silence, with the exception of Gavin’s squawking at the Torchic to come back. However, when the chase turned in to the forest, even he got quiet as they tried to dodge the upturned roots and small holes.

Eventually, Torchic lead them to the mouth of a cave, and it didn’t even think before sprinting inside. Gavin slowed to a stop to catch his breath for a minute and take in where the Fire Type had gone.

“…You’ve got to be _joking_ ,” he groaned.

As the others ran up behind him, Ryan frown and looked at the Pokemon Photographer. “Where’d it go?” he asked.

Gavin simply pointed at the cave. The rest of the Achievement Hunters sighed.

“How the hell are we gonna find it in there? It could go on for fucking miles!” Jack exclaimed.

Ray bit his lip. “Do you think there’s a chance that if we leave it, it’ll find its own way back to its Trainer?”

There was a pause; Michael pressed his lips together and shook his head.

“It could still get hurt. I don’t want to take that chance. Besides, since it’s a Fire Type and that cave is probably full of Rock Types, it’s chances of getting hurt or killed are way higher.” He began to jog towards the cave. “Come on.”

Everyone except for Geoff and Ray followed him; the younger tried to do the same, but a hand on his shoulder held him back. He looked up at the older Trainer, puzzled.

“Is that really something you’d consider doing?” Geoff asked. “Leaving a Pokemon just because you’re not its Trainer?”

Guilt leapt into Ray’s throat, cutting off any words from exiting. He opened and shut his mouth a few times, but the older eventually scoffed and pushed past him.

“Seriously, kid, you need to get your priorities straight.”

Ray’s face flushed, and he followed the older with his feet dragging and head tipped. That wasn’t what he’d meant by that; of _course_ he didn’t want to leave it alone like that. But if that was what Torchic wanted, shouldn’t they have let it?

Biting his lip, he decided that maybe it would be in his best interest to shut up for the rest of the day. Unless he saw Torchic, there wouldn’t be a single sound coming out of his mouth.

 

* * *

 

 

When they finally caught up to the others, Geoff squinted at them through the darkness. “Did you find it yet?”

“No. It’s too bloody dark!” Gavin informed. “You can’t see crap!”

“Here, Gavin-”

Jack broke off his own sentence to pull off his bag and kneel down. After searching through it for a moment, he pulled out a black tube-like figure and stood back up, handing the item to the Pokemon Photographer. The younger stared at it for a beat before pressing a button on the side; the item lit up and shined directly into Michael’s eyes, who yelped and threw his hands up to cover his face.

“Fucking Arceus, Gav!”

Laughing, Gavin turned the flashlight towards the ground. “Sorry, boi! Didn’t know you were there!”

And just like that, it was as if there had been no tension between them in the first place. Michael snickered and swatted at the straw haired, and in return, the younger ran a few steps deeper into the cave.

“Guys, come on, focus,” Ryan sighed, a smile forming the sound of his words. He walked over to where Gavin had ended and continued on; the others glanced at each other and followed.

For a while, the only noise any of them were making were their footsteps and Gavin calling out for Torchic. Everyone made sure to stay together in hopes of avoiding a fiasco like Ryan, Michael, Gavin and Ray had had months earlier, but that didn’t stop them from peering down the other paths the cave offered.

Eventually, Ray stopped, frowning as he looked in one. “What’s that?” he whispered.

Behind a rock, something yellow poked out. It came to a point at the tip, and the Trainer tilted his head to the side a bit, squinting. That looked a _lot_ like one of Torchic’s feathers on its head…

Ray reached out and grabbed Geoff’s sleeve before he got too far. “Is that it?” he asked.

“Is what it?”

Ray dashed over to the rock without giving the older an answer. It was a bit into the corridor, so he wasn’t surprised when he heard Geoff stutter through some unintelligible words. Regardless, he rushed to his destination and quickly looked behind it…

…Only to find an Abra simply staring up at him. He sighed and let his shoulders drop.

“Aw, fuck,” he breathed, “I really thought that was it…”

A set of footsteps rushed up behind him, and before he had the chance to turn around, a hand on his shoulder did it for him. Ray was suddenly face to face with a very pissed off Geoff.

“What the fuck are you doing?!” he snapped. “Do you realize just how big this cave is? If we got separated, there’s a huge fucking chance that we’d never find each other again! How can you be so Mew damn irresponsible?!”

Swallowing thickly, Ray stumbled back a step. “I- I…”

“You what? Didn’t realize it? Well, maybe if you would pay attention to us for once instead of spacing out, you’d understand!”

Confusion seeped into Ray’s fears; when had he not been paying attention? Was he referring to when he’d been listening to music before Torchic had run off?

Geoff glared hard at him. “You need to get your shit together, understand? Stop only thinking about yourself! You might not have had any friends in Nucom, but now you’ve got five other people to think about! You can’t just go running off like that!”

_Geoff reached forward and shoved him. “Why don’t you just fucking go home already? No one likes you anyways! Just get the fuck out of here!”_

The older threw up a hand, jabbing a finger at the youngest, who flinched and stepped back a few more feet. Before Geoff could say anything else, Ray’s foot caught on a much smaller rock sticking out of the ground, and he fell back directly on top of the Abra.

The next thing he knew, a blur of colors blinded him; he had to shut his eyes with the intensity of them. When he opened them seconds later, he flinched at the sunlight. Once his eyes adjusted, they grew wide.

Ray _definitely_ wasn’t in the cave anymore.

 

* * *

 

 

Geoff had never shut himself up so fast in his life.

When he’d watched Ray fall backwards, any anger had quickly turned into worry; if he’d gotten hurt because Geoff was yelling at him, he’d never forgive himself. As soon as he saw the multicolored glow radiating off of him, however, that worry had turned into shock. The next thing he knew, the kid was gone.

Now, realizing that there was no way of knowing where he’d gone, that shock was turning into panic. The Trainer quickly backed towards where’d they’d come from, staring at the spot where he’d last seen the youngest for a minute until he spun on his heel and sprinted towards the others.

“Guys! Guys, we’ve got a problem!” he yelled.

When he stumbled into the main corridor, he was immediately blinded by artificial light; he threw up a hand.

“Gavin, for fuck’s sake,” Michael laughed. “Maybe you should just give Ryan the damn thing! It’d save our eyes!”

Ignoring him, Geoff rushed forward to look at them all. “R- Ray’s gone,” he stammered. “I- I was yelling at him, and I guess I scared him, so he was backing up, trying to get away, you know? And he tripped, and there was an Abra behind him, and he fell on it and I guess it used Teleport, a- and now he’s gone!”

“What?!” Gavin exclaimed.

Any trace of joy on all of their faces was replaced with worry. “Shit, it makes sense why he was scared!” Michael pointed out. “The kid’s been having nightmares about you yelling at him since we were in Gubbin! Probably since we met Matt and Jeremy, really! What you were saying to him sounded kind of similar to what he told me you say in his dreams!”

Geoff froze. “…He’s been having nightmares?” he slowly asked. “About… About me?”

Ryan frowned, looking to the ground. “It would make sense why he’d be that scared, then,” he added. “I caught him having a panic attack last night after waking up from a nightmare. It wouldn’t surprise me if it was the same one he told you about.”

The oldest could practically feel his heart crumbling to pieces. If he’d had _any_ idea that Ray had been that affected by his words, he never would have yelled at him. He let out a pathetic sounding groan and put his head in his hands.

“This is my fault,” he whimpered.

Jack shrugged, rubbing the back of his neck. “Well… Yeah,” he replied. “All the more reason to go find him then, right?”

Geoff pulled his hands away and nodded. “Right. Let’s go, then.”

He turned and started to leave, but Ryan quickly snatched his scarf to hold him back. When the older turned to look at him, he dropped his hands and crossed his arms.

“Do you really think Ray would be willing to see _you_ right now?” he asked. “You did terrify him pretty badly. How do we know he won’t just turn and run off when he sees you?”

Hesitating, Geoff felt his voice leave him. His mouth opened and shut a few times before he simply looked to the ground, shaking his head.

Michael stepped forward. “He’s got a point. Besides, we still need to find Torchic. Splitting up would probably be the best option. It’d probably be better if you helped look for it rather than Ray.”

“What about the rest of us, then?” Jack asked.

“Growlithe and I will look for Ray,” the Ranger stated. “Growlithe will be able to find him a lot quicker than any of us could. Jack, you go look for Torchic. If it manages to get hurt, you’ll be able to patch it up really pretty fucking quick. As for Gav and Ryan, one of you go with each group. Your choice.”

“I’ll go with you, Mi-cool,” Gavin chimed in. “It was probably my fault in the first place that Torchic ran off.”

Nodding, Michael turned to Ryan. “Are you okay with this?”

“Yeah, it’s fine.”

“Great. Gavin, give them the flashlight. I assume they’ll be going deeper into the cave.”

“What? Then what’re we doing?” the younger squealed.

Michael pulled the flashlight out of the Gubbin Native’s hand and shoved it into Ryan’s. “Outside, dumbass. If someone fell on you and you had the choice to teleport, you’d want to go to a well lit area, wouldn’t you?”

“Ooooh! Smart thinking, boi!” Gavin laughed.

Rolling his eyes, Michael turned him around and shoved him forward. “Shut up and go,” he grinned. “Let’s meet up just outside of the cave in an hour, alright?”

“We’ll be there,” Jack answered. “Good luck finding Ray.”

“Same to you guys with Torchic.” With that, Michael grabbed Gavin’s wrist and dragged him along as he and Growlithe sprinted towards the entrance of the cave. The Gents gave each other a glance, and then they were carefully trudging through the cave once more.

 

* * *

 

 

As soon as Ray had recovered from the shock of Teleporting, he frantically got to his feet and looked around. Not only was he not in the cave anymore, but he was somewhere completely unfamiliar. Granted, it was _very_ beautiful, but that didn’t make Ray want to stay any longer than he had to.

The Trainer was surrounded by a rather fleshed out garden; there were patches of flowers covering the grass and trees dotting the sides. One tree stood in the middle, and from one of its lower branches hung a swing made out of vines and a long log. It almost looked like a setting straight out of the children’s books his cousins used to read, where the characters would wear floppy hats and puffy dresses and have a picnic with tea.

He felt something poke the back of his leg, and he flinched as it stung. Looking down, he saw a long, thick patch of skin that had been scraped off to the point of bleeding, and the Abra from before staring at it curiously. It turned its gaze to him and cocked its head to the side a bit.

“Are you the one who Teleported us here?” he asked, ignoring the look on its face. It nodded before pointing at his injury again. “That? Uh… I’m sure it’s nothing. It’ll be okay.”

The Abra stared at him for a beat, and then it held up its arms. The manner in which it did it reminded Ray of his cousin’s kid when she was about three and obsessed with being held. With a smile from the memory, Ray reached down and lifted it up and into his own arms.

“Why’d you bring us here?” he asked. “I- I mean, I get that you were probably a little freaked out that I fell on you, so you probably panicked, but why here?” He paused. “Unless… Do you come here because- like- uh, does this place calm you down?” It nodded. “So it’s like a safe haven, then.”

It repeated the gesture before turning to point to the swing. Ray walked over to it, a limp in his step setting in as the skin on his leg pulled. When he finally sat down, he set Abra aside and put his ankle on his knee to look closer at his leg. The Pokemon sidled up to him and made a noise of questioning.

“L-Like I said, I’m sure it’s okay. Nothing to worry about,” Ray insisted.

Staring at him disbelievingly for a beat, Abra frowned and whined in sympathy. Before Ray knew what it was doing, it slid off of the swing and scurried over to a patch of flowers nearby. He raised an eyebrow, but did nothing else.

After a moment where it was simply picking flowers, Abra hurried back over with an armful. It got to his feet and let out a cry, to which Ray leaned down and picked it up, placing it on his lap.

“What’s up?” he asked. “What’s with the flowers? Gonna make me a flower crown?” He snickered at himself; Abra simply shook its head. It then turned and started tieing the flowers together around his leg where it was bleeding. Ray winced a couple of times at the pain, but didn’t dare make a sound in fear that it would force itself to stop.

A few minutes later, Abra climbed onto his shoulder, and he marveled at the flower netting now covering his right calf, with the petals covering the wound. He grinned and looked to it, rubbing its head.

“Thank you!” he said cheerfully. “It looks great!”

It cooed and rubbed its face against his; he laughed quietly and shut his eyes.

 

* * *

 

 

Michael, Growlithe, and Gavin were back outside within a couple of minutes, and Growlithe immediately started sniffing the ground for any traces of Ray. The two humans simply stood and watched it for a minute, following it when it would take a few steps. There was a long beat of silence; Gavin sighed and turned to Michael.

“I’m sorry,” he stated.

The older raised an eyebrow. “For what?”

“For calling you a whiny bitch, and then pushing it when you were clearly bothered by it,” he explained. “I should have just stopped there. I’m really sorry.”

Michael watched him for a moment, but eventually let his breath out of his nose and pressed his lips together. “It’s fine, Gav,” he replied. “I shouldn’t have pushed you that far anyways. I should have just ignored you.”

Gavin shook his head. “No. It wasn’t your fault in the slightest, Mi-cool. You’ve got nothing to apologize for.”

“Except that I totally do,” Michael scoffed. “I hit you about not telling anyone about leaving, and I _know_ you’ve felt bad about that. I _was_ being a- a _bitch_.”

The younger lightly slapped the Ranger on the shoulder. “Stop it,” he ordered. “It was an argument, and we both said things we shouldn’t have. Let’s just leave it at that, alright? Just forget about what happened and leave it.”

Frowning, the older looked at him. “That’s not a good way to deal with things like that, you know.”

“Well then, what do you want me to do? I’ve already apologized for calling you a bitch when I know that you’re not comfortable with things like that. It wasn’t any better than when you were upset about me calling you gay, and it took Jack lecturing me to understand that. This wasn’t any better, and I’m really sorry. Now can we drop it?”

A small smile began to form on Michael’s lips; he gently punched Gavin on the shoulder and nodded. “Yeah, whatever. We’re men; we don’t need to talk about shit.”

Gavin laughed, crossing his arms. “Man, you are really contradictive with your sexism.”

“What do you mean?”

“The other day, you were yelling at Geoff for telling me to ‘man up’, but now you’re doing practically the same thing. What’s the difference?”

Michael’s face paled a bit, and he bit his lip, looking away. “Shit. I didn’t even realize I was… Fuck. Sorry.”

“What’re you apologizing to me for? I’m sure as hell not a woman. I’ve got a penis!” Gavin exclaimed with a grin.

Before Michael could reply, Growlithe let out a bark and started dashing off; the other two glanced at each other and quickly followed.

 

* * *

 

 

“Hey, Ryan, shine the flashlight over here,” Jack called over.

The Breeder quickly pointed it towards where the Pokemon Doctor was pointing; all that it revealed was another rock. The two both sighed and looked at each other.

“How the hell are we ever going to find it in here?” Ryan groaned. “This cave goes on forever!”

Pressing his lips together, Jack gave a sideways glance to Geoff. “We might be able to move along faster if he were any help,” he muttered.

Ryan looked back at him, frowning when he saw that the oldest’s mood hadn’t changed since Gavin, Michael, and Growlithe had left. The Trainer was staring at the ground, arms crossed and eyes dull. He’d kick the ground every once in a while, and when the other two Gents would start to walk, he’d sullenly follow, but aside from that, he was completely still. Ryan let out a huff and stepped over to him.

“Geoff, dude.”

The dark haired looked up at him timidly. “Hm?”

Shaking his head, Ryan replied, “You have _got_ to get ahold of yourself. We get it, you feel horrible about yelling at Ray, but the sooner we find Torchic, the sooner you can apologize to him. Alright?”

Geoff frowned, turning his gaze back to the dirt beneath their feet. “Apologizing’s not gonna stop his nightmares,” he stated.

“You don’t know that,” the younger said.

“Yes, I do, because life doesn’t fucking work like that,” Geoff snapped. “One apology won’t put an end to a month’s worth of Mew damn nightmares!”

“You never know,” Jack called over. “We don’t know how Ray’s brain works. That might be enough to at least stop them for a little while.”

Geoff opened and shut his mouth a few times, but no words came out. Eventually, the oldest just pushed past Ryan and started to storm deeper into the cave. Jack and Ryan looked at each other, rolled their eyes, and followed.

“He’s taking it so personally,” Jack whispered. “I don’t think he gets that nightmares don’t always dictate how you think of someone in real life.”

“Give him time. He’ll get it eventually,” the older reminded. “Even if he doesn’t, maybe this will get him to stop yelling at people for such little things, like losing a battle or wandering off.”

There were a couple of beats of silence; Jack sighed and looked at the ground. “We’ve all been arguing a lot recently. Maybe we need to take a break soon. Do something fun or something.”

Ryan hummed in agreement. “That sounds like a good idea.”

“Hey, guys! I think I found it!”

The younger Gents snapped their heads over towards the sound of Geoff’s voice; they rushed over to where he was and looked up when he pointed towards the ceiling.

On the wall was a ledge just wide enough for something small and moving to be standing on it. The figure was chirping and pacing back and forth, and sure enough, when Ryan shone the flashlight on it, it was Torchic.

“How the fuck did it get up there?!” the Breeder squealed.

“I think the real question here is, how the fuck are we going to get it down?” Jack added.

Geoff was silent for a moment, eyebrows furrowed in concentration. Without warning, he chucked his bag off and threw it to the ground. “Ryan, give Jack the flashlight and go stand in front of that rock over there.”

“…Why?”

“Just fucking do it, asshole.”

Letting out a small noise of confusion, the Breeder did as instructed. Geoff began to walk behind the rock in question, but turned Ryan’s shoulders to face front when he started to turn to watch.

“Stay.”

From a safe distance away, Jack laughed loudly. “You sound like he’s a dog,” he chuckled. “Roll over, Ryan! Do you want a bone? Good boy!”

“Fuck off,” Ryan giggled.

The next thing he knew, something was climbing onto his shoulders; he yelped and almost tipped over out of surprise. Whatever was climbing on him began to fall forward, and Jack rushed over to grab it before it hit the floor. When just the leg was on Ryan’s shoulder, Jack slowly lowered Geoff to the ground as he caught his breath.

“I said stay, asshole!”

“I didn’t realize that was you! What the hell were you doing?!”

Geoff pointed up to Torchic, who was now watching the scene curiously. “I’m trying to get up high enough to grab it! Easiest way is to get on your shoulders, since you’re the tallest!”

Ryan looked up at the Fire Type. “…Oh.”

“Yeah, ‘oh’ is fucking right.”

“…So, do you wanna try again, or…?”

The Trainer smirked and scrambled back to his feet, disappearing behind the rock. This time, when the weight fell on Ryan’s shoulders, he was prepared. When Geoff’s legs were situated, the Breeder firmly grabbed hold of his calves. The older grabbed onto his head to keep balanced before pointing forwards.

“Alright, go forward, now.”

Ryan began to laugh as he took a few careful steps. “After we get Torchic, do you want to ride me into the sunset?”

There was a beat of silence. Ryan stopped.

“Wait- wait, shit, I didn’t-”

“Ryan, what the fuck!”

“I mean, if you’re offering…!”

Ryan and Jack’s responses were in sync: “ _Geoff_!”

The three began laughing hysterically, only stopping when Geoff yelled out and gripped Ryan’s hair tightly, causing the Breeder to yelp in pain.

“Geoff, what the fuck?!”

“Ahh!! Ahh, stop laughing, I’m gonna fucking fall! Ahh, Ryan!”

Jack was at their side in an instant, arms held out in preparation for the oldest to fall into them. Thankfully, the two managed to regain their posture before the appendages were needed.

“Okay… Okay,” Geoff panted. “From now until my feet are on the ground, no fucking around. I don’t want to fall again.”

The other two Gents nodded, and then Ryan took the last couple of steps to the ledge. Surprisingly enough, Torchic ran straight to Geoff, and the Trainer passed it down to Jack. It crawled onto his shoulder, and he pet it softly before turning back to Ryan and Geoff and holding out his arms.

“Alright, Geoff, I’m ready.”

The oldest’s eyes were glued to the ground; an air of hesitance filled the area around him. “Uh…”

Ryan looked up at him. “What’s wrong?”

“I- uh- I didn’t realize how high up I was.”

“So?” Jack questioned.

Geoff swallowed thickly. “I don’t know how to get down.”

Jack rolled his eyes. “Well, you don’t have to fall. Ryan, just crouch down and let him climb off,” he suggested.

A smirk formed on the Breeder’s face, and he grinned at Jack. “Actually... I have a better solution,” he hummed.

“Oookay…?”

Geoff froze. “Ryan, what are you doing?”

He reached up and untangled Geoff’s hands from his hair, gripping them tightly as he turned around so his back was facing Jack. “Geoff, are you ready?”

“Ready for what?! Ryan, I swear to Mew-”

“There is nowhere I can turn…,” he sang slowly, tightening his grip on Geoff’s hands.

“Ryan…!”

“There is no way to go _on!_ ”

“ _Ryan!_ ”

Ryan jerked back and released Geoff’s hands, causing him to tumble backwards and straight into Jack’s arms with a loud scream. The Pokemon Doctor lowered his shaking form to the ground and started laughing hysterically. Flopping on the ground and whimpering, Geoff glared up at the chuckling Ryan.

“You fucking asshole!” he whined.

The Breeder simply shrugged. “Hey, you needed to get down somehow!”

“Why the fuck didn’t you just crouch down then?!”

“I thought this would be funnier.”

With a huff, the oldest shakily got back to his feet and started to walk back towards the entrance; his face was stone hard until he got past the crying Jack on the ground, at which point an amused smile formed on his lips. He stepped back long enough to scoop up the Torchic, and then he continued on.

 

* * *

 

 

Ray and Abra sat in silence for a long while. The swing rocked them back and forth, gently enough that Abra eventually crawled down into Ray’s lap and curled up against his chest. It drifted in and out of sleep for a while; Ray softly ran his hand over its head and leaned his own against the vine. He dozed off rather quickly.

After a while, Abra suddenly jerked awake, kicking Ray in the stomach in the process. He coughed and raised an eyebrow at it.

“Are you okay?” he asked, blinking the sleep out of his eyes.

It sat up and rubbed its eyes before nodding. He smiled at it sleepily and leaned his head back against the vine.

“Is there anyone else here?” he whispered. “Don’t you have a family or something?”

There was a beat where it was still, and then it slowly shook its head. Ray wasn’t quite sure what to say, so he simply held it closer and hummed.

“I’m sorry.”

It wrapped its arms around his middle, letting out a deep breath. Biting his lip, Ray prepared to say something, but a shout cut him off. He sat up straight and looked over towards it.

“Oh, hi guys!”

Gavin, Michael, and Growlithe came sprinting over, and Michael had to grab Gavin’s collar to prevent him from slamming into Ray. The Trainer grinned and set Abra on the swing before standing. Gavin immediately tackled him in an embrace.

“Bloody hell, Ray, am I glad to see you!” he exclaimed. “I was starting to worry that something had happened to you!”

A short laugh escaped Ray as he returned the gesture. “I’m fine, Vav. Don’t worry about it!” he reassured.

As soon as they pulled apart, Michael raised an eyebrow and pointed at Ray’s lower leg.

“What the hell is that?” he asked.

Laughing nervously, the youngest glanced at it. “I, uh… I guess when I fell on Abra, I scraped it up pretty badly. Abra did this as a substitute for bandages. Isn’t it cool?”

“I thought you said you were fine!” Gavin cried.

Ray flinched. “I- I am! It wasn’t that bad, honest!”

Growlithe started to sniff at it; Michael crouched down to look. “Does it hurt?”

“…Kind of,” he admitted. “Only really when I walk.”

“Aw, poor X-Ray,” Gavin sighed. “Do you need to sit for a while longer?”

Shrugging, the Trainer turned to look at Abra. It was staring at the ground, shoulders sagged heavily. Ray bit his lip before turning back to the others and nodding.

Michael immediately got to his feet. “Okay, sure. We promised to meet up with the others in an hour, so I think we’ve got time.”

Smiling, Ray turned and scooped Abra up before sitting back down on the edge of the swing; Michael sat next to him, and Gavin next to Michael. Growlithe hopped up into its partner’s lap, and he began to pet it. They stayed quiet for a while.

Eventually, Gavin turned to Ray. “This place is bloody beautiful,” he said. “Is this where that Abra brought you?”

Ray smiled and nodded. “Yeah.”

“It’s amazing.” Gavin pulled out his camera and began to snap pictures. “And this lighting is just _perfect_ for it all.”

Michael shook his head with a smile at the Photographer before looking at Ray. “Have you scanned Abra with your PokeDex yet?” he asked.

“Oh, right! You gotta do that!” Gavin exclaimed, not looking away from his work.

The Trainer laughed quietly and pulled out the device.

_Abra, the Psi Pokemon. This Pokemon has the ability to teleport itself at any time._

“Well, I could have fucking told you that!” Michael barked. “What a piece of shit that thing is!”

Both Gavin and Ray glared at him, shouting noises of disapproval; the Ranger rolled his eyes.

“I meant the PokeDex, not Abra, you fucks.”

“Oh.”

Gavin laughed loudly, and then they lapsed into silence again. Abra shifted and wrapped its arms around Ray again, and he smiled down at it, leaning his head against the vine once more. A soft breeze carted through the air, rocking the swing just a little.

Ray wished it could have lasted much longer, but too soon for his liking, Michael let out a deep breath and stood up, letting Growlithe jump onto his shoulder.

“We should probably be getting back soon,” he said, looking at the other two. Gavin nodded and reluctantly stood up as he put his camera away. Ray was about to do the same, but Abra let out a mournful cry, rooting him to the spot.

“Abra… I have to go,” he whispered. “I’m sorry. My friends are waiting for me.”

It clung to him tighter, but he pried it off and set it on the swing before standing. A frown twitched on his lips, so he quickly began to walk off in the direction the others had come from. He only made it a few steps before both of his arms were lifted and wrapped around two pairs of shoulders. Ray raised an eyebrow at the two on either side of him.

Gavin shrugged and offered a sympathetic smile. “You were limping,” he explained.

Nodding, he looked back to the ground; he felt a pair of small arms wrapping around his leg, and the pitiful whimpering of Abra just below him. Ray could have cried, and when he looked down and saw tears poking out of the Psi Pokemon’s eyes, he almost did. Biting his lip, he stopped walking and pulled his arms away from Michael and Gavin. He crouched down to look it in the eye.

“Abra, I can’t stay,” he muttered. “I have a journey. I have friends. I can’t just leave them. Besides, you’re not my Pokemon. I can’t.”

It started making distraught noises, and it climbed up to cling to his middle. Ray opened his mouth to protest, but Abra started trembling, and his breath ended up rushing out of him.

_“Is that really something you’d consider doing?” Geoff asked. “Leaving a Pokemon just because you’re not its Trainer?”_

He hugged it back and shut his eyes.

“Do you… I mean, I don’t want to take you away from here if you don’t want to come, but do you want to come with me?” he asked softly.

It nodded vigorously, and Ray would be lieing if he said he wasn’t relieved. Instead of taking out a PokeBall and just catching it there, he simply stood up with it still in his arms and let it cling to him. He looked at the other two and shrugged.

“Should we head back now?”

Michael nodded, and Gavin immediately put Ray’s arm around his shoulder again. Growlithe lead the way back to the entrance to the cave, where they figured the Gents would be waiting by now.

 

* * *

 

 

The Gents managed to make it back to the entrance just as the Lads were returning from the garden; at first, relief flooding through them all at the sight of Ray, but then they saw that Gavin was helping him walk, and that relief was replaced by worry. They rushed over to meet them halfway.

“What happened?”

“Are you okay?!”

“Fucking Arceus, what’s wrong?”

Ray gave them all a weak smile. “I- I’m fine,” he stuttered, “I just tripped. It’s okay, I swear.”

Jack pressed his lips together in incredulity and shook his head. “Can I take look at it, at least?” he asked.

The younger Trainer nodded wordlessly; Ryan opened his arms.

“Do you want me to carry you to wherever Jack’s going to look at it?” he offered.

Ray glanced down at Abra, still in his unoccupied arm, and shook his head. “It’s okay,” he replied softly. “It doesn’t hurt that bad. I’ll be fine.”

Geoff frowned. “Are you sure?”

Just like that, as if someone had flicked a switch, the youngest couldn’t talk. His anxiety shot up as soon as the words left the oldest’s mouth, and all he could hear was, _“Stop only thinking about yourself! You might not have had any friends in Nucom, but now you’ve got five other people to think about!”_ He swallowed thickly and snapped his gaze to the ground before the blue eyes could bore into him any more. His grip around Abra tightened; it let out a soft noise and looked up at him.

“I’m okay,” he breathed, quiet enough that only Abra could hear it.

Gavin, however, caught the sudden hesitance radiating off of the youngest, and he frowned. “Geoff… Maybe you…”

The Gubbin native’s sentence ended there, but Geoff understood what he was saying. With guilt rushing through his veins, he nodded slowly and took a few steps back.

“…Right. Sorry.”

Geoff watched as the others fussed over him, and let a frown break through as he saw Ray getting overwhelmed by the attention. He opened his mouth to say something, but he thought better of it and shut it. Saying something would just overwhelm the youngest even more.

Still, even through the guilt of causing him nightmares and the worry over his leg, Geoff couldn’t help but feel relieved that he was back with them. A soft smile formed on his lips, knowing that whatever happened, the kid would be alright as long as he was surrounded by people like them who would give anything to make sure he was okay. Even if Geoff couldn’t be a part of it anymore, he was still relieved.

 

* * *

 

 

It was hours later before Geoff built up the courage to talk to Ray. The Nucom Village native was sitting by himself by the fire that evening while everyone else set up for dinner. Geoff kept glancing at him as he did hit part, and as soon as he finished, he took a long, deep breath and walked up behind him.

“Can I talk to you?”

Ray whipped around, staring up at him with wide eyes; there was a beat, and then his guard began to come down. “Uh… Yeah, yeah, sure. Is everything okay?”

And it was that simple sentence that made Geoff hate himself even more. The fact that it was clear that _Ray_ was under loads of emotional turmoil and _Ray_ was the one struggling with his first journey and _Ray_ that was hurt, and yet he was asking _Geoff_ if he was okay. It made him cringe before planting himself on the log next to the youngest.

“…No,” he admitted. “I fucked up today. Like, a dick load. And you know that. And I shouldn’t have. I really, really shouldn’t have. I yelled at you for a stupid reason when I could have just talked to you, but instead I ended up scaring you like hell, and I’m so, so sorry.”

Ray stared at him for a long moment before turning his head back to face the fire. “S’okay,” he mumbled. “It’s not a big deal, honestly.”

“Except it _is_ ,” Geoff moaned. “Michael told me that you’ve been having nightmares about me yelling at you. That’s not okay. You should be having nightmares about monsters and demons, not your friends… Or, I guess, the people who are _supposed_ to be your friends.”

“You’re my friend,” Ray quickly reassured. “Of course you’re my friend!”

Geoff glanced at him before looking at the ground. “I shouldn’t be, though. If I’m giving you nightmares…” He broke off to rub his face. “Mew, I just… I’m so sorry, dude. I had no idea.”

Ray bit his lip. “It’s okay, Geoff, really! I- I was just overreacting. You really don’t have anything to worry about!”

“It doesn’t matter if you’re overreacting,” the older firmly said. “I scared you. I made you afraid, and it’s not okay. Arceus, I’ve been trying to protect you from shit since we met, and all that I’ve done is yell at you and make it worse.”

“Yeah, but you’ve kept me safe from shit, too, though,” he replied. “You didn’t make me explain what panic attacks are to the others. You said you’d convince the other guys not to go to Nucom. You helped me through that first panic attack.”

Geoff pointed to where Ray’s leg was wrapped up in gauze. “I caused that.”

“That got me Abra, though,” he pointed out. “It doesn’t even hurt.”

“You were limping.”

Ray fell silent, not having any responses to that. Geoff sighed and shut his eyes, putting his face in his hands.

“…I just… I can’t explain how sorry I am for causing you so much emotional distress,” he muttered. “I hurt you. I’m so, so, sorry.”

“It’s okay, Geoff,” Ray stated with a little laugh. “Really. Don’t beat yourself up over it. I don’t want you to have nightmares about _me_ now!”

A smile finally broke onto the oldest’s face, and he laughed softly. “No. No, I don’t want that happening, either.”

They lapsed into a comfortable silence for a few minutes; Ray started to lean against Geoff, but suddenly leapt away as if it burned. When Geoff looked at him with raised eyebrows, he bit his lip.

“Is- is that okay…?”

Grinning, Geoff wrapped his arm around the younger’s shoulders and pulled him against him. “C’mere, kid,” he laughed.

Silence fell again. It was peaceful.

 

* * *

 

 

_Geoff reached forward and shoved him. “Why don’t you just fucking go home already? No one likes you anyways! Just get the fuck out of here!”_

_Ray stumbled back, but caught his balance after a moment. On shaky legs, he looked up at the older Trainer. “B-But I thought you said…”_

_“I was lying!” Geoff snapped. “How fucking hard is it for you to realize that?! What makes you think that anyone likes you? We’re all just waiting for you to turn around and go back to Nucom, and the second you do, we’re going to have the biggest fucking celebration ever because you’ll finally be gone, and we won’t have to worry about your fucked up anxiety disorder anymore!”_

_He pushed Ray again, this time knocking him to the ground. The youngest slammed into his knee, causing him to yelp in pain._

_“Geoff…!”_

_Ray heard a gasp from above him, and then a pair of knees hitting the ground in front of him. Hands landed on him: one on his shoulder, the other hovering over his knee._

_“Shit, Ray, are you okay?” Geoff asked urgently. Any venom in his voice had suddenly disappeared and been replaced with worry and care; it was so thick that Ray barely even remembered it was there in the first place._

_The younger shakily looked up at him, tears welling up in his eyes. Geoff spotted them immediately and let his shoulders fall._

_“Did I hurt you? Mew, Ray, I’m so sorry… I didn’t mean to, I swear,” he breathed._

_Ray burst into tears in that moment, and he was quickly pulled into a tight embrace. He felt a hand running through his hair and soft whispers in his ear. It occurred to him after a moment, as well, that Geoff was rocking him slowly._

_“You’re okay, kid,” the older whispered. “I’ll keep you safe.”_

 

* * *

 

 

Ryan wouldn’t have been surprised that night if Ray woke up to another panic attack. After all that had gone down that day, he was prepared to calm the Trainer down. He’d even made sure that his sleeping bag was next to his so he could be there in an instant.

So when he rolled over to see how Ray was doing, his emotions shot from surprise to confusion to relief when he saw a smile resting on his face. Whatever he was dreaming about had to be good, which was a very nice change from the usual.

Knowing that Ray would probably be okay, Ryan rolled onto his back and stared up at the stars. He figured it would probably take a long while, but eventually he would get some sleep and be rested up for whatever adventure tomorrow would bring as the journey continued.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the read! Hope you enjoyed!!
> 
> Ryan's songs this chapter: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n4CQK-ML_KA  
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=moSFlvxnbgk  
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSF9onj0Gk0
> 
> Today was rough, and I almost completely forgot to post this ^^; but hey, I got it up!! Yay that!!
> 
> [Comfort Ray Button]  
> [Comfort Michael Button]  
> [Comfort Gavin Button]  
> [Comfort Geoff Button]  
> [Comfort Abra Button]


	33. Pokemon and Trainer Reunite! Meet Caleb!!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Torchic's trainer finally comes around, and he gladly lends a hand for the day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> YEAH, ALEX, WAY TO GO, JUST FORGET FOR THREE DAYS TO POST YOUR LAST CHAPTER BEFORE A LONG ASS HIATUS. Fucking idiot.
> 
> Beacon Region Map: http://sweetiecurfyart.tumblr.com/post/111232399174/here-it-is-a-map-of-the-beacon-region-used
> 
> Art will be posted: sweetiecurfyart.tumblr.com  
>  Follow me on Twitter under @Sweetie_Curfy  
>  Support me on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/sweetiecurfy?ty=h

The sun was still relatively low in the sky by the time the Achievement Hunters started to eat breakfast, so the conversation wasn’t very existent. Most of the words came out of Gavin alone since the Photographer had gotten up much earlier than the rest to grab some pictures of the sunrise, and most of those words were directed towards Michael.

“…and then Ryan killed me and became king for a bloody _third time_!” he exclaimed. “I woke up pretty soon after that, but it was a bloody weird dream!”

“Sounds like it,” Michael grunted.

Gavin hummed and poked at his food for a beat. “Although, I don’t know why Jack never became king.”

“Are you sure he’d be any good?” Ryan laughed, sending Jack a smirk.

“What? Of course he’d be good! He’s like the bloody Achievement Hunter mum! He’d be the _best_ king!”

“I don’t think I’m a mom as much as just a doctor,” the ginger chuckled. “Which, oh, by the way, Michael! Speaking of doctor stuff, have you taken your new medication yet? Nurse Joy said you were supposed to take a half dose every week.”

Rolling his eyes, Michael shoved a bite of food into his mouth. “Yeah, or a full dose every other. It goes either way, you know.”

“Are you sure that you want to do that, though?” Jack asked. “I mean, if you forgot to take it for however long and then you started withdrawing…”

A huff broke out of the younger, and he roughly set his fork down. “Fine,” he grumbled. “I’ll do the fucking half dose if it’ll make you that damn happy.”

Jack smiled and got up. “Great! You want to do it now, then, to get it over with?”

“Yeah, whatever.”

 

* * *

 

When they started down the path again, Michael was secretly grateful for Jack forcing him to take the half dose, because he was already feeling muggy and disgusting and out of it since he’d been off of his medication for so long. Growlithe kept pawing at him to keep him focused on walking, but it was hardly of any effect. He could only imagine how out of it he’d be if he’d taken a full dose next week…

Not to mention, his leg was hurting like a bitch where he’d injected it. It was all he could do to keep from limping. Granted, he assumed that maybe it would have hurt a little less if Jack hadn’t blatantly insisted that Michael let _him_ inject the shot, since he _was_ a doctor after all (and, Michael couldn’t help but think, completely ignorant to the fact that the Ranger had done this to himself for years before they’d even met.). He couldn’t be sure, though, so he just kept his mouth shut.

Well… Towards Jack, at least. He was getting ever so close to snapping at Gavin for keeping that poor Torchic hostage in his arms _again_.

It kept squirming and chirping loudly at Gavin, and it would try to attack him every few minutes- usually with Peck, but sometimes with a small Ember. Seeing as Gavin was Gavin, the Photographer had to constantly make noise as it was going down; his own chirps and weird bird noises were louder than the damn Torchic itself. Michael, knowing that he was basically back to day one with his medication, knew that his patience was short and was _not_ going to last much longer with this kind of noise.

Finally, after about a half an hour more, Michael whipped his head to glare at the younger. “Could you give the fucking thing to someone else or something?!” he snapped. “Fucking Arceus, Gav! The thing fucking hates you! Just let it go!”

“What, and let it run back to that abusive Trainer of its?” Gavin replied. “Hell no! There’s no bloody way I’m ever gonna let her have it back! No bitch like that deserves- _augh!_ ”

Another Peck attack was sent to Gavin’s face, and he took it screaming. Michael gritted his teeth and snatched Torchic out of his arms, ignoring Growlithe as it leapt off of his shoulder.

“With the way it’s acting, I’m pretty sure it wants to get back to its Trainer! I can fucking understand why!”

Geoff sighed and walked over to the two. “Alright, alright, alright, calm your fucking dicks. Michael, just give Torchic to me so you guys aren’t fighting over it like fucking babies.”

Michael reluctantly handed the Fire Type over, and Geoff immediately began to walk down the path again. Growlithe jumped back onto its partner’s shoulder as he rolled his eyes and followed. Gavin simply shook his head and did the same.

After a few minutes of silence, Ray rushed over to Geoff and glanced up at him with a sheepish smile. The older raised an eyebrow at him, but the Nucom Village native quickly looked away. There was a beat, and then he looked back up.

“Do you know what type the next gym is?” he asked softly.

Geoff pondered the question for a beat before shaking his head. “Nah. I forgot to look it up while we were in Gubbin. Sorry, bud. We’ll look it up in Cultivate Town, alright?”

Ray nodded. “Where _is_ the next gym, anyways?”

“Seedling Town, if I recall right,” Geoff answered. “So, I guess it wouldn’t surprise me if it was a Grass Type gym. The leagues always choose the towns with the closest names to the type. Unless it’s Ground Type, since they do a lot of gardening and shit there.”

The younger was quiet for a beat, not quite sure what to say. “Uh… Have you fought gyms like those before?”

“Oh, yeah. Plenty of times. The first gym I ever fought was Ground Type, actually,” he stated. “They’re really nothing to be scared of, either of them. Dragon Type Gyms, now, there’s a fucking challenge! Claire and Iris were two of the hardest Gym Leaders I’ve ever gone up against! Psychic’s pretty tough, too. Tate and Liza in Hoenn have _no_ fucking mercy whatsoever. It took me three tries to beat them.”

Ray almost physically winced hearing that. “That sounds horrible,” he muttered. “I don’t think I could stand that. How the hell did you end up beating them?”

“Well… It kind of goes back to when I was in Fortree City. There’s these things called Secret Bases that are super fucking popular over there, or at least they were when I was up against the League…”

As Geoff launched into his story, Ryan looked at Jack and gave him a relieved smile. “I’m so glad Ray’s getting comfortable with Geoff again,” he said lowly.

Nodding, Jack leaned in towards the Breeder. “I am, too. I was getting nervous that we’d have to make one of them leave or something if we couldn’t figure this out.”

Ryan raised his eyebrows. “Do you really think it would have gone that far?”

“Who knows? My mom always said that you can’t change the past, so you gotta change the future. So I’m not gonna worry about what could have happened. I’m just glad they’re okay now.”

The older hummed. “Yeah. Me, too.”

Another silence fell over the group; Gavin stepped over to Michael and rubbed the back of his neck.

“Uh… Sorry again, boi,” he muttered. “We really need to stop fighting, don’t we?”

Michael let out a small laugh. “It’s just that damn Torchic,” he joked. “Once we get it off of our hands, I bet you and me’ll be back to fucking around every day. Seriously, though, why’re you so pissed off about its Trainer being abusive? It’s away from it now, and that’s all that matters, right?”

Pressing his lips together, Gavin turned away. “…No, Mi-cool. It’s really not,” he whispered. “Just because it got away doesn’t mean she won’t return. It doesn’t always happen like-”

“No- no- no- shit, Torchic, don’t you fucking dare- _Mew damn it_!”

The two oldest Lads snapped their attention to the oldest Achievement Hunter and watched as he groaned and threw his hands over his face. Immediately, they knew what had happened and sighed.

Ray started running down the path after Torchic, but he slowed to a stop after a few steps. The others raised eyebrows at him until they saw the boy further down the path who had seen Torchic and looked like the entire galaxy had formed in front of him. A Poochyena was at his side, a similar expression on its face.

“ _Torchic_!” he gasped.

He dropped to the ground, holding his arms open, and Torchic leapt into them as soon as it could. Clutching it tightly, the boy started laughing, sounding more out of relief than humor, and the Poochyena placed its front paws on his arms, licking Torchic happily.

Ray hesitated, watching the scene timidly for a moment. He really, _really_ didn’t want to intrude on this, but… He was sure the others were just waiting for him to ask. He _had_ to ask.

The boy pulled away and stared down Torchic, not even bothering to rub the tears away. “Where have you been? Are you hurt? What happened?” he rambled. Torchic simply buried itself in his torso again, and he grinned and hugged it again. “Oh, you know what, I don’t even care…!”

This was Ray’s chance. He took it.

Nervously, the dark haired walked over to him. “U-Um… Are- Are you- uh…” The words caught in his mouth and refused to move; he swallowed thickly and was about to turn to the other guys for help, but the boy looked up before he got the chance.

“O- Oh! I didn’t see you there,” he admitted. Quickly, he wiped his face and stood up, still clinging to Torchic. “I’m Caleb. I’m Torchic’s Trainer.”

He held out his hand; Ray reached for it before hesitating and pulling it back. He grabbed the hem of his shirt and looked towards the others finally, and Geoff quickly got the hint and rushed over, taking Caleb’s hand.

“Geoff. This here is Ray, and back there are Jack, Ryan, Gavin, Growlithe, and Michael.”

“Have you guys been taking care of Torchic for the past few days?” Caleb asked.

Ray nodded, and Geoff replied. “I found it a couple of days ago when it fell into a lake after a Rhyhorn was chasing it. I fished it out and took it to Jack, ‘cause he’s a Pokemon Doctor, and he checked it over to make sure it was okay, and it’s been with us ever since.”

“Oh, Mew! Thank you so much!” he exclaimed. “Poochyena and I have been looking for it for a few days now. We got separated when we were training by a herd of Ponyta and Rapidash came through. When it passed, Torchic was no where in sight. We’ve been worried sick ever since!”

Gavin came forward then, taking a moment to snap a photo of Caleb and Torchic before crouching in front of Poochyena. “Is it alright if I pet it? It’s so bloody cute!”

Caleb smiled and nodded. “Sure, go ahead!”

The Photographer immediately began to pet the Dark Type, and it quickly rolled onto its back so he could pet its stomach. Jack and Ryan took this as their cue to come and join the rest, but Michael nervously stayed behind, and Growlithe stayed with him, knowing exactly what was up.

“Did you say you were a Trainer?” Ryan asked. “How many badges do you have?”

Hesitating, Caleb looked away. “Uhh… Not any, yet. I’ve been trying to find the perfect gym to get my first badge at, and so far, I haven’t found any. I’m on my way to check out the one in Gubbin City right now.”

“Oh, hey, we were just there!” Jack informed. “Geoff and Ray got their second gym badges, and the gym leader is one of Gavin’s best friends!”

“Really? What type is it?”

“Fire Type,” Gavin answered, glancing up at him. “Perfect for Gubbin, since there’s a big pottery factory there.”

“And unless you have a Water Type or Rock Type, or that Torchic has the Flash Fire ability, I’d suggest you go to a different gym,” Geoff said. “I doubt you’d want to be crushed for your first gym battle. I’ll tell you from personal experience, it fucking sucks.”

“Oh! Right. Okay, thank you,” Caleb said.

“No problem.”

Ryan walked around to the opposite side of Poochyena to glance down at Gavin before looking at Caleb. “So since you’re a Trainer, do you ever battle against other Trainers that you see while traveling? I know Geoff likes to do that, and I’ve run into a lot of others who like to do that, but there’s also the kinds like Ray who just keep to themselves. Are you either of those kinds?”

Caleb hesitated just the slightest bit, but he didn’t have the chance to reply before Geoff was shouting, “Oh! Fuck, you’re right! You wanna have a battle? I’ll take you on and kick your ass!”

“Geoff, come on, you’re gonna scare him off,” Jack sighed.

As Torchic slid to the ground, Caleb lifted his right hand and rubbed the back of his neck with it. “Uh… I don’t think I’d really want to, anyways,” he said. “I’m not really an obsessive battler. Besides, I just got my Torchic back.”

“You wouldn’t have to battle with Torchic!” Geoff pointed out. “You could always battle with Poochyena!”

The Dark Type Pokemon sat up as soon as it heard its name; Gavin pouted, but said nothing. Ryan gently nudged Caleb’s arm with his elbow.

“It’s alright, man. Nothing wrong with turning down a battle.” He hit it a little bit harder, continuing, “Just because-”

A yelp from the brunette cut off Ryan’s statement; the older jumped back and raised his hands while Caleb grabbed his arm.

“Shit, I’m so sorry, I didn’t realize I hit you that hard!” Ryan exclaimed.

Caleb shook his head slowly. “I- It’s fine, it wasn’t you. I hurt my arm a few days ago, and you just hit it right where it’s hurt. It’s not your fault.”

Frowning, Jack quickly walked over and held out a hand. “Here, let me look at it. I promise I’ll be gentle.”

The younger obeyed, and as Gavin scrambled out of the way, Jack peered closely at it. He poked and prodded it a couple of times, leading the Trainer to wince and hiss. Torchic and Poochyena stayed close to his side.

Ray was smiling at Caleb’s Pokemon’s loyalty when the thought struck him that there were only six humans here instead of seven. He looked around worriedly for a couple of beats until he laid eyes on the auburn haired and his partner Pokemon standing a fair distance away from the rest of them. Subtly, so the others wouldn’t notice, he snuck his way over and raised an eyebrow at him.

“Is everything okay?” he whispered.

Michael snapped his head up and looked at the youngest, panic and confusion swimming behind his brown eyes. Once he realized who was talking to him, he visibly relaxed and nodded.

“Everything’s fine,” he firmly replied. “Nothing’s wrong.”

Biting his lip, Ray glanced away and back again. “Are you- uh… Are you having an anxiety attack or something? ‘Cause, I mean, we don’t have to go back over with the others if you can’t handle it… O-Or, you don’t, if you don’t want me here! I totally understand if you don’t want me to be here, right now.”

A smile played on Michael’s lips, but he shook his head regardless. “I’m not having an anxiety attack, Ray. Don’t worry about it. But I do want to be alone for a little while. Could you just stay with the others for a while longer? I need to talk to Growlithe.”

Ray frowned but still nodded. “Right, ‘course. Do you want me to come get you when we start to leave?”

“Sure. Thanks.”

“Yep!”

With that, Ray hurried back over to the others. He glanced back to see Michael crouch down next to Growlithe and begin to speak to it, an emotion radiating off of his face that the Trainer couldn’t find a word for. It seemed to be a weird mix of regret, pain, longing, and fear. He didn’t have much time to think about it before his attention was drawn away by Jack kneeling on the ground and digging around in his bag.

“Here… Let me… Ah!”

He pulled out a roll of ace bandages and an ice pack; as soon as he’d crushed the ice pack enough, he pressed it against Caleb’s arm and wrapped the ace bandages around it to hold it in place. Pulling his bag back onto his shoulders, Jack smiled gently at him.

“I’d like it if you could stay with us for today, if that’d be alright,” he suggested. “I want to keep an eye on it in case it gets worse.”

“See? I told you all that he’s like a mum!” Gavin exclaimed.

Caleb paused. “I- what?”

“Just ignore him, he’s an idiot,” Geoff said.

“Hey!”

“Uh… Yeah, sure, that’s fine,” Caleb finally said. “I can stay. It’s not like we’re headed anywhere on a particular time schedule or anything.”

Jack grinned and slapped his hands together. “Great! Then let’s set up camp, since we’re heading in opposite directions. No one will lose any ground this way.”

The rest of them nodded, and Ray hurried over to tell Michael and Growlithe. With those three on their tails, they started to scope out the forest for a clearing to set up.

 

* * *

 

 

As soon as they were unpacked, Ryan had suggested making lunch, and Michael had agreed to help. As the Breeder made sandwiches, the Ranger was cutting up fruit to add on the side. Ryan sang lowly under his breath, and Michael stayed silent, listening.

“…Gliding where turf is smooth; life’s more painless for the brainless, why think so hard when it’s so soothing? Dancing through life…”

The older’s eyes darted up past Michael, and his lyrics dissolved into hums. Raising an eyebrow, Michael paused his slicing long enough to turn and look behind him. Gavin was coming over, a curious smirk on his face. The auburn haired rolled his eyes with a smile and turned back to his task. When Gavin was beside him, he leaned against their fold-up table and looked at him.

“Hi, Gavin,” Michael said.

“Boi, I’ve got a question for you.”

“Okay? Shoot it, boi.”

Gavin glanced warily at Ryan, who was still humming to himself and focusing on the sandwiches. With a shrug, the Photographer looked back to the Ranger in question.

“Were you alright when we met Caleb? You stayed pretty far off from us, and you’re still avoiding him. Do you have a problem with him?”

Michael froze and stared at the fruit for a few beats before his eyes darted up to meet Gavin’s. Biting his lip after a long pause, he slowly began to cut the fruit again.

“…It’s not Caleb, if that’s what you’re asking,” he slowly answered. “I don’t have a problem with him.”

“Then what’s been your problem?” Gavin pressed. When the older was silent, he added, “I’m not mad at you for having an issue, I’m just curious about it.”

Michael took a deep breath and shook his head. “It’s just- it’s his Poochyena.”

Gavin raised his eyebrow, and even Ryan paused. “What’s wrong with his Poochyena?” Gavin asked.

“It’s not his, specifically,” Michael replied, voice quieter and more timid than previously. “I’ve just… Had some history with some other Poochyena, and I’m not exactly fond of them after that.”

“If you don’t mind me asking,” Ryan broke in, “What happened?”

_The next thing he knew, Poochyena’s growling had turned into viscous barking, and it lunged at him with teeth bared; a scream ripped out of his lungs when he felt the Bite Pokemon tearing into his arm. He fell to the ground, slamming his head into the dirt._

_Michael tried to shove or kick it away, but it kept coming back and trying to do damage. He felt multiple wounds made all over his body until he finally just gave up and let Poochyena do as it please. Eventually, it must have decided it had done enough, and it barked viciously in his face one more time before running off. The auburn haired was left bleeding in the middle of the forest with only one thought running through his mind:_

_Why?_

“Mi-cool? Boi, are you okay?”

Michael’s gaze snapped up, and he took in a few deep breaths, feeling like he was floating. He gripped tightly to the knife and the table. A hand was placed on his shoulder, and he squeezed his eyes shut.

“I- Yeah. I’m fine. I don’t want to talk about it, Ryan.”

There was a short pause. “It’s fine, Michael. Don’t worry about it. Are you sure you’re alright?”

Michael simply nodded and opened his eyes. “Positive.” With that, he began to cut the fruit again. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Gavin and Ryan cast a wary glance at each other.

“Does it have anything to do with why you kept flinching when Dan’s Houndour used Bite?” Gavin asked softly.

Michael opened his mouth to reply, but the knife slipped, and he winced with a pained yelp.

“Mi-cool?”

“ _Shit!_ Mew damn! Mother fucker, ah!”

The Ranger pulled his hand away and looked closely at where blood was coming out of his palm at a decent rate. He bit his lip and turned to hurry over to where Jack and Caleb were sitting.

“Jack, I cut myself!”

Gavin laughed and shook his head, looking at Ryan. “Leave it to Mi-cool to- Rye?”

The now pale Breeder slowly turned to look at the Photographer. “Yeah?”

Rolling his eyes, Gavin turned to walk off. “Bloody hell, what is it with everyone and these traumatic things cropping up left and right? First Mi-cool, now you! Mew…”

Ryan watched him go before slowly bringing a hand up to gently touch his arm. _That wasn’t what he meant,_ he thought to himself absentmindedly. _That wasn’t what he meant._

As soon as Jack heard Michael’s distressed exclamation, he was on his feet. “Where? What did you hurt?”

“My hand. I cut it when I was cutting the fruit.” Biting his tongue out of pain, he held it out for the Pokemon Doctor to look at; Caleb stood up and peered at it with him.

As he was inspecting it, Jack periodically glanced up at Michael’s face to make sure he wasn’t going pale or ashen. Once he was sure the Ranger wasn’t going to pass out, he turned to Caleb.

“Could you do me a huge favor?” he asked.

Caleb straightened up. “Absolutely! What do you need?”

Jack was a bit taken aback from the eagerness, but he quickly shook it off and pointed towards where they’d left their bags near Geoff, Ray, and the rest of the Pokemon. “Go get my bag, and be careful about your arm, alright?”

He nodded an immediately rushed away; Jack looked back at Michael. “How are you feeling? Are you dizzy, lightheaded, nauseous…?”

The younger shook his head. “I feel the same as I did before I sliced it open.”

Jack hummed. “Well, that’s a good sign, at least.”

There was a beat, and then Caleb was hurrying back, backpack in his right hand. “I’ve got it! What do you need out of it?”

A smile formed on Jack’s lips slightly. “There’s a couple of old rags in there, and a bottle of isopropyl alcohol. Could you hand me those and a roll of gauze?”

Caleb automatically began to dig through his bag; Michael raised an eyebrow at the oldest of the three.

“What the fuck is isopropyl alcohol?” he asked.

Jack frowned, and then realization dawned on his face and he quickly looked at Caleb. “Shit, he’s right. Isopropyl alcohol is-”

“I know what it is,” Caleb cut off. He pulled out the brown bottle, along with one of the rags Jack had asked for. “It’s rubbing alcohol, isn’t it?”

Jack stared at him for a beat before nodding. “Yeah, you’re right. I’m kind of surprised that you knew that off of the top of your head.” He took it and poured just a bit of the alcohol onto the rag before gently grabbing Michael’s wrist. “This is gonna sting, just as a warning.”

“Oh, fuck.”

The moment he began to wipe down the wound, Michael groaned and tried to pull away, but Jack kept his grip firm. Caleb set the bag down and took Michael’s hand to steady it. Once it had been cleaned, the brunette reached back and picked up the other rag and the gauze. Jack gratefully took it, wiped off Michael’s hand one last time, and wrapped it in the bandage. The Ranger flexed it gingerly and smiled up at Jack.

“Thanks, man. ‘Preciate it.”

Jack grinned back and nodded. “No problem. Just try not to hurt it worse, alright? And tell Ryan to cut his own fucking fruit.”

Laughing, Michael turned and started to walk back to the Breeder in question. “Yeah, yeah, whatever.”

Once he was out of earshot, Jack turned to Caleb. “You did pretty well with that,” he mused. “Thanks for the help, by the way.”

Beaming, Caleb nodded. “Of course! It was… Kind of fun, to be honest. Not that he was hurt- I mean, the helping part.”

“Hm. Yeah, I can understand that.” Jack reached up and pulled the bill of Caleb’s hat over his eyes with a smile. “Anyway, what were we talking about before Michael came over?”

The younger readjusted his hat before looking up at him. “Salubrity, wasn’t it?”

“Oh, yeah, that was it.”

 

* * *

 

 

“Vulpix, use Quick Attack! Lairon, Metal Claw!”

As the Pokemon charged at each other, Ray looked up at Geoff. “What are you trying to do with them, again?”

“I’m trying to help Vulpix learn Will-O-Wisp,” Geoff explained. “It’s a move that’ll burn the opponent Pokemon in battle.”

“Oh, yeah,” Ray mumbled. “Well… Hopefully, it’ll go better than its Ember attack. I don’t think there’s a place here that we’ll get lucky with if it misses.”

Geoff shook his head. “You must have Vulpix’s attacks mixed up in your head, kid,” he said. “We’ve got Ember down pat. Will-O-Wisp is the one that keeps missing and setting random things on fire.”

“Oh! Sorry… Well, then… Fuck, I guess.”

“Yeah. Fuck is an understatement.” Geoff threw out his hand. “Alright, Lairon, Headbutt, and Vulpix, Ember!”

The Steel Type ran at Vulpix, but it leapt out of the way just in time, shooting flames out of its mouth.

“So… What are you going to do if Vulpix can’t learn to control it?” Ray asked. “N-Not that I don’t think it will! I’m just- um- I’m…”

“It’s fine, Ray.”

The youngest winced at the slightly annoyed tone in Geoff’s voice. “S- Sorry…”

Frowning, the older hastily glanced at him before shooting his gaze back to the battle. “Nothing to be sorry for,” he sighed. “Uh… Well, if it can’t learn Will-O-Wisp, then we’ll just have to try something else. Gotta keep going.”

Ray nodded slowly. “Okay… I think I get it.”

“Alright… Let’s try this,” Geoff suddenly muttered. “Lairon, use Tackle, and Vulpix, try your Will-O-Wisp!”

As a few balls of blue fire formed around Vulpix, Lairon dashed towards the Fire Type; just as it got close, it shot the attack. Each ball bounced off of Lairon’s hard shell, and each went in a different direction.

“Well, shit, that’s not supposed to happen,” Geoff pointed out.

Ray bit his lip as he watched the attack skip on the ground, recoil against branches, and slide through the dirt. “Maybe you should practice this in a more closed-off space…”

Geoff opened his mouth to reply, but all that came out was a gasp, and he roughly grabbed Ray to yank him towards him. One of the Will-O-Wisps came dangerously close to them; Geoff felt the youngest flinch, and a sharp yelp came out of him. As soon as the attack had passed, the older Trainer pushed him away and frantically looked over him.

“What happened? Where are you hurt?!”

With one eye shut and the other tearing up, Ray clutched to his upper arm and bit his lip. He shook his head hastily. Gently, Geoff reached over and attempted to pry his hand away. The younger whimpered softly, and the older felt his heart leaping.

“Just let me look at it. I won’t touch it, okay?”

Ray let his hand be pulled away, and Geoff bent over a bit to look closer at it. The skin was bright red and starting to blister; frowning, he moved to touch it, but Ray quickly pulled back, and Geoff cringed.

“Right, sorry. I promised, didn’t I?” he sighed.

Using his other hand to rub at his eyes, Ray nodded slowly. “I- It’s not that bad,” he sniffled. “I’m fine.”

Geoff stood up straight and crossed his arms. “Bull shit, Ray. I’m going to make you let Jack look at it, because I honestly have no fucking clue how bad this is.” With that, he took hold of Ray’s wrist and dragged him towards the ginger.

“N- No, it’s fine, I swear…!”

“Hey, Jack! Jack, c’mere, I fucked up and hurt Ray again.”

_Again_. Ray almost visibly flinched at the word.

Both the Pokemon Doctor and Caleb came over, and immediately, Geoff pointed to the burn. Jack gently lifted Ray’s arm to inspect it; he flushed and looked away. Caleb raised an eyebrow at the body language, but otherwise said nothing.

“How did you get burned, Ray?” Jack asked.

Ray opened his mouth, hesitated, and shut it. With a frown etched on his face, Jack looked to Geoff.

“Alright, since it seems he’s gone… Geoff?”

The oldest ran a hand over his face. “I fucked up,” he sighed. “I was trying to get Vulpix to master its Will-O-Wisp, and I was a fucking idiot and let him stand so closely with me, and then it went to shit like always and he got hit.”

Jack simply nodded and gently touched the burn, to which Ray winced and tried to pull away. Sighing, the Pokemon Doctor looked at Caleb.

“Are you willing to help out again?” he asked.

Caleb immediately stood up straighter. “Of course! What do you need?”

“Aloe, bandages, and cool water. There’s some aloe in my bag, you know where the gauze is, and ask Ryan if we can use his Starmie. If you explain the situation to him, he’ll probably let you use it.”

Saluting, Caleb began to turn on his heel and hurry off. “I’m on it!”

Ray bit his lip as soon as the brunette was gone, squeezing his eyes shut and throwing a hand over his face. Of all the times to be thrown into the center of attention…

He felt crushed and trapped. Like they were going to yell at him any minute now because he went and got himself hurt. Again. His leg hadn’t even finished healing from the other day when he’d caught Abra!

And how serious was this burn, anyway? Jack had seemed calm, but… Those doctor shows, they all seem so calm when everything’s going to shit. Was that a doctor trait? Was Jack the same way? How did he know if he was okay or not? For all he knew, this could be some super fucked up injury and he’d have permanent damage from it. Maybe they’d even have to take off his entire arm…!

_That’s ridiculous,_ Ray thought to himself. _Jack only asked for aloe, a bandage and some water. Unless he was going to power-water cut your arm off, he’s not amputating. Yet._

_…_

_But what if…_

By the time Caleb came back, Ray was a trembling mess.

“I got the aloe and bandages, and Ryan just gave me his Starmie’s PokeBall, so I assume it’s in there. I hope that’s oh… kay…” The words trailed off to a complete stop when Caleb made eye contact with the anxious Trainer; the dark haired hastily looked away as quickly as he could.

Jack and Geoff glanced at each other, both a little worried over how this would go down. “Uh… Thanks, Caleb,” Jack eventually muttered. He gently pulled the supplies out of his hands and set to work, letting Exor out of its PokeBall immediately.

Caleb didn’t once take his eyes off of Ray. Tentatively, he reached forward and took a small step towards him. “Are you alright?” he asked. His voice was soft and caring, and it caught Ray so off guard that he ended up nodding without thinking about it.

“Are you sure?”

Another absent minded nod.

“Can I touch you?”

Caleb got the same reaction as the first time, although this one was a little bit more hesitant. Gently, he stepped over and rested his hand on Ray’s shoulder, rubbing small circles into it with his thumb. He felt Ray’s shaking and frowned.

“Uh, Jack? Is there a chance that he’d be going into shock over this?” he asked.

The older’s gaze darted up to him for only a split second before his eyes were back on the burn. “I suppose, but it’s not very likely. What makes you think that he’s going into shock?”

“He’s shaking,” Caleb informed. “Like, a lot.”

“Oh.” Jack shook his head, attention now fully on putting aloe on Ray’s wound. “Caleb, that’s not a sign of shock. He’s probably pretty anxious right now, so I assume that’s what it’s from.”

“Isn’t anxiety a sign of shock, though, too?”

With a sigh, Jack reached up and pressed the back of his hand against Ray’s cheek. He then reached to touch Ray’s neck, but the dark haired flinched and tried to squirm away. Jack moved his hand to his wrist instead and pressed down near the palm.

“Ray, are you feeling dizzy or anything at all right now?” he asked softly.

Timidly, he shook his head. Jack gave a pointed, yet motherly look to Caleb.

“See? He’s alright. His skin isn’t cold, his pulse is super strong, and he’s not faint. His breathing is mostly normal, too. He’s not going into shock.”

“Then why’s he so anxious?”

“Ray has an anxiety disorder,” Geoff explained. “That’s why he didn’t say much when we first met. This situation’s probably got him pretty fucking overwhelmed.”

Caleb nodded. “So… It’s like an anxiety attack, but all the time?”

The Gents gave each other a glance. “…Not exactly,” Geoff said.

“It’s just kind of like being on the edge of one most of the time, I think,” Ray finally whispered. “Just overreacting and constantly worrying about random shit.”

“Oh, okay,” Caleb hummed. “Do you have anxiety attacks, still?”

Ray nodded. “All the time. Have you ever had one?”

“I used to get them all the time,” the brunette admitted. “My family moved here from Hoenn when I was younger, and I got pretty stressed out over that. I think I remember having at least five within that first month we were here.”

The dark haired hummed. “Yeah… Yeah, they suck,” he muttered.

Caleb didn’t hesitate before nodding again. “No arguments there.”

There were a few beats of quiet, aside from they yells of Gavin and Ryan, who were off playing with Poochyena, Torchic, and Midnight. In that time, Caleb turned his focus on watching Jack loosely wrap Ray’s arm. He continued to rub small circles on his shoulder.

“There we go,” Jack eventually sighed. “Just make sure you don’t hit it off of anything or touch it too much, alright?”

“Okay,” Ray replied.

“Do you need any painkillers? Second degree burns can absolutely hurt like a bitch, so don’t feel like you’re overreacting if you’re asking for one.”

With a small laugh, Ray just shook his head. “No, it’s fine. Thank you, though.”

Geoff looked at Ray. “I think we’ve trained enough for today, don’t you? You wanna come with me so I can put those fuckers back in their PokeBalls?”

Ray’s eyebrows rose. “A- Are you sure? Vulpix didn’t get Will-O-Wisp under control yet, though…”

“So? That can wait for another day.” The oldest grabbed Ray’s good arm and pulled him towards the Pokemon. “We can just talk about shit, if you want.”

The Trainers’ voices faded away the further they got; Jack eventually looked at Caleb with a smile.

“Thanks for helping, again,” he said. “You did a pretty great job with keeping Ray calm.”

A blush formed on the brunette’s face, and he rubbed the back of his neck. “Ah… Thanks. It wasn’t a big deal, though, really.”

“It was, though! You’ve been a huge help, and somehow stayed wary of your own arm at the same time.”

Caleb opened his mouth to respond, but there was a crashing sound on the other side of the clearing, followed by a bird-like squawk.

“Jack!”

The ginger let out a deep sigh while Caleb started sprinting towards the sound.

“There’s just no break today, is there?” he deadpanned.

Regardless, he quickly turned and hurried in the same direction Caleb had gone. When he got there, he found Ryan and the Pokemon hovering worriedly over Gavin, who was curled up on his side and clutching his hip next to the table. Caleb was kneeling next to the Lad and looking up at Jack.

“We were fucking around, and he tripped on something,” Ryan explained. “He hit his side off of the table.”

Jack crouched down and lay a hand over top of Gavin’s. “How badly does it hurt?”

“Bloody a lot…!”

“Scale of one to ten?”

He paused. “Uh… Six? Seven? I don’t bloody know!”

“Alright, alright! Just take a deep breath, Gav. Move your hands, too, I need to look at it.”

Gavin did as told, placing his hands on the ground in front of him. Jack pulled the waistband of the Photographer’s jeans down just enough to see how bad the injury was. He pressed gingerly on the swelling area, and when the younger flinched and yet out a pained yelp, his frown deepened.

“Can you move your leg, Gav?” he asked.

“Ah… I think so?”

“Can you show me?”

The straw haired slowly moved his leg forward and then back to where it had been before. A small sigh of relief pulled out of Jack, and then he was looking at Caleb.

“Can you do me one last thing?” he asked.

Immediately, Caleb was standing up. “An ice pack?”

This threw Jack off a bit. “I- uh- well, yeah. They’re-”

“In your bag? I’m on it.”

He was hurrying over in no time; Jack watched him for a minute before shaking his head slowly.

“That kid sure is something.”

As soon as Caleb returned, the Pokemon Doctor took the ice pack out of his hand, crushed it up, and placed it on Gavin’s hip. The Lad let out a sigh of relief and smiled.

“Thank you…”

“Any time,” Jack replied. He looked up at Ryan and added, “I don’t think it’s anything serious. Just a bruise, is all.”

“Thank Mew,” the older sighed. “Both for that, and the fact that you’re around for all of these injuries and shit.”

Jack shrugged. “Don’t forget about Nurse Caleb. He’s helped a hell of a lot today!”

Caleb’s smile faltered a bit at the statement, but it went unnoticed by the rest of them. The expression slowly fell until it was a steady frown turned towards the ground. There was something about what Jack had said that felt…

…Right.

 

* * *

 

 

It was hours before Caleb thought about it again. The moon was casting a light glow on the camp site, just bright enough that the Trainer could see his hand in front of his face and see when someone was moving. He’d long given up on sleeping; between the excitement of getting his Torchic back and the confusion that came with helping Jack with the injuries, his eyes didn’t even want to shut. There was just a huge ball of mixed emotions twirling in his stomach, and it kind of made him want to throw up.

So, instead of that, he sat up and ran a hand through his hair. What in Arceus’ name could it be about what Jack had said that could cause him to lose sleep like this? Was it the fact that Jack was proud of him for helping so much? He _did_ have issues with letting his parents be proud of him. Maybe it was the same feeling with Jack?

No. That wasn’t it.

…Maybe…

_Don’t forget about Nurse Caleb._

_Don’t forget about Nurse Caleb._

_Nurse Caleb._

_Nurse Caleb._

_Nurse Caleb._

The words washed through his intestines with a wave of calm and righteousness, and another aftershock of confusion. Nurse Caleb? That was all it took for him to have an internal freak out? That was _ridiculous_. Why of all things would that set it off?

_I mean… Sure, I’ve been questioning this whole Trainer thing since I left,_ he thought to himself, _but do I really hate it so much that I want to be a Nurse?_

A small flip of the stomach gave him his answer: yes.

“Is everything okay?”

The whisper from his left made Caleb just about leap out of his sleeping bag; slamming a hand over his heart, he whipped his gaze over and just barely made out who the voice had come from. He watched with squinted eyes as Ryan crawled out of his own sleeping bag and made his way over to sit next to the brunette.

Caleb was so quiet watching him that Ryan must’ve taken it as a “no”. He reached up and placed a hand on his forehead for only a second before the younger was waving him off.

“I’m not sick, I promise,” he muttered. “At least… At least, I’m pretty sure.”

He could almost make out the frown forming on Ryan’s face. “What’s wrong, then?”

“Just…” He sighed and scratched the back of his neck. “Just some personal stuff. S’nothing important.”

“Well… It’s obviously important if it’s keeping you up,” Ryan pointed out. “But I won’t make you talk about it if you’re not comfortable doing so.”

Caleb was silent for a moment, and then he was rubbing his eyes with the heels of his hands and shaking his head. “Have you ever made a huge decision, and then part way through it realized that you chose wrong?”

“Of course. I wouldn’t be surprised if everyone here has. Did you make a mistake somewhere?”

He nodded. “I… I’m not sure if I want to be a Trainer anymore,” he admitted.

As soon as the words came off of his tongue, it was as if a weight that he didn’t know existed was lifted off of his shoulders. Both relief and frustration washed over him at the feeling, and he squeezed his eyes shut, letting out a harsh breath. It was like something had clicked inside of him, or something had almost slid into place, and he wasn’t sure how he felt about that.

A hand was suddenly on his back, and the thumb of it rubbed small circles. “It’s alright,” Ryan soothed. “No shame in that. Do you have any idea what you want to do instead?”

“I… I don’t know. Maybe? But I’m not sure.”

“That’s fine, too. No one’s going to blame you if you switch your occupation.”

Caleb was silent for a beat, and then he was shaking his head. “No. There _are_ people,” he softly replied. “My family’s going to be so disappointed in me if I decide not to do this.”

“What for?”

“Because my dad, and my grandfather, and my great-grandfather, all of them have been these amazing Trainers,” he explained. “Like, ‘say their names and strike fear into the hearts of beginner and mediocre Trainers’, amazing. And my dad was so excited about passing that on, you know? Teaching us how to battle every day, and how to take care of our Pokemon and everything. And then, when my siblings got old enough, and they admitted that they wanted to be Coordinators and Authors, he just look so disappointed…”

Caleb ran a hand through his hair again. “I didn’t want him to look at me like that, so before I even could consider what else I’d want to do, I convinced myself to be a Trainer. But now…” He sighed. “Now I’m starting to think that was a horrible choice…”

Ryan hummed softly. “I think I’ve gotta agree with you on that one,” he said. “You shouldn’t ever base your life off of what someone else wants. That’s the path you’d take if you want to be miserable for the rest of your life.”

“What about my dad, then? How do I tell him that I don’t want to be a Trainer anymore?”

“Well… Just come right out and say it, I guess,” Ryan suggested. “And if you get nervous, just remember that it’s your life, not his. You can do whatever you want with it.”

“But what if whatever I end up choosing isn’t right, either? What if I hate the next thing, and the thing after that, and the thing after that?” Caleb rambled. “How am I going to know if what I choose is right?”

Ryan fell silent. When Caleb turned to look at him, the Breeder was staring at the ground deep in thought. After a long while, the older slowly shook his head, eyes still glued to the dirt beneath them.

“I… I don’t know,” he breathed. “To be honest, I’m… kind of struggling with the same thing myself.”

Caleb frowned. “What…? Really?”

With a nod, Ryan simply shut his eyes. “I went through the same thing you’re going through when I was younger. My aunt was super insistent that her kids be Punks, but none of them wanted to be that. One of my cousins became a Beauty, another an Aroma Lady, and the third became a Backpacker. My aunt tried to convince my siblings and I to do it, too, but my brother was too dead set on being a Trainer, and my sister was too young to really pay attention. So I took it up instead. It only lasted for a few months, but it was hell while it lasted. I ended up choosing to be a Breeder because I kind of liked that stuff at the time, and it was an excuse to get out of it, since that’s what my uncle was and I figured she wouldn’t be too upset if I dropped being a Punk for a Breeder.”

Stifling a laugh, Caleb raised an eyebrow at Ryan. “So… Let me get this straight. _You_ used to be a Punk?”

“Heh… Yeah. Had the blue hair and everything.”

“That’s incredible,” he giggled. “Did you wear the boots and the leather jackets, too?”

“Have you ever met a Punk that didn’t?” Ryan laughed.

Caleb’s laughter lasted a few more seconds; as soon as he’d calmed down, he looked back at the older. “So, you chose being a Breeder, then? Are you liking it more than being a Punk?”

Ryan rubbed the back of his neck. “Well… Yes and no. It’s definitely better than being a Punk, I can tell you that much. Not that there’s anything wrong with Punks; it’s just not exactly my cup of tea.”

“But…?”

A sigh tumbled out of the Breeder. “But… I’m not sure if being a Breeder was the right choice, either. It was great at first, and fun, you know? But then time passed, and I kind of lost that spark that made me like being a Breeder in the first place. I’ve forgotten how to tell how Pokemon are feeling, or how to determine their levels. All of the important stuff that Breeders have to do. And I think I’ve forgotten it all because I just don’t _care_ anymore.”

Caleb hummed. “So you _don’t_ want to be a Breeder anymore?”

“No. Yes. I don’t know.” He sighed. “I don’t know. I think I might have just lost my motivation to do anything.”

“Well… If that’s all it is,” Caleb started, “You guys are headed to Cultivate Town, aren’t you?”

Ryan paused at the suddenness of the question. “Uh… Yeah, why?”

“Cultivate’s pretty big on Breeding and stuff,” he explained. “Maybe you can get your spark back when you go there.”

A noise of thought slipped through Ryan’s throat. “Maybe. What are you going to do, then?”

The younger was silent for a moment. “…I’m not sure,” he admitted. “I’ll think over it tonight, but I think I’ll probably just roam around until I find something to replace that.”

“Any ideas of what you’d like it to be?”

A beat of silence fell between the two; all of Caleb’s sleep depriving thoughts from earlier came rushing back. He shrugged weakly.

“Maybe… I don’t know. Maybe a Nurse?” he said. It sounded more as if he were trying to convince himself than anything.

“Really?” Ryan hummed. “I wouldn’t have thought of you to be that type of guy.”

“Are you saying I shouldn’t do it, then?”

“What? No! You go for whatever you think is what you want to do, Caleb.”

He hummed again. “I still need to think about it, though. Maybe sleep on it.”

Ryan stood up, smiling down at him. “Then go to sleep. You can make your decision tomorrow.”

Caleb nodded and slid back into his sleeping bag. “Thanks, Ryan.”

“No problem.”

 

* * *

 

 

Despite it taking the youngest Lad forever to get up, it appeared to Caleb that Ray was the most energetic the next morning. He’d eagerly set out the bowls for the Pokemon when asked, and once his portion of the task was done, he took the bowls Gavin had been given and set those out for the Photographer. Gavin had looked rather relieved, and Caleb figured it was due to the fact that he was still limping around from yesterday.

Once Ray had finished everything, he focused his energy on Michael. Michael had been writing in a notebook while sat on a low branch in a nearby tree, Growlithe at his side, and he had been quite focused on whatever he was writing until Ray scurried over and started talking to him. He talked and talked, and Michael only gave the occasional nod of the head or glance. Eventually, Ray started poking at him and tapping on the older’s dangling feet, and the Ranger decided he’d had enough.

Slamming the notebook down, he leapt out of the tree; Ray let out a laughing squeal and started to sprint away. Michael chased him around for a while, and when they started to come up to where Geoff and Ryan were talking, Ray cried out to them.

“Ryan, Geoff, help!!” he laughed.

Geoff sighed and rolled his eyes, turning his back to them. “Fucking Arceus, and I thought we were gonna have a break from this shit since Gavin hurt his hip!”

Chuckling, Ryan began to walk forwards to meet Ray halfway, but the dark haired Lad turned his head to look at Michael and ended up slamming full-force into the Breeder. The two toppled to the ground, and Ryan managed to slam his head into the back of Geoff’s knee, forcing it to buckle and send him to the ground with them. Both of the Gents groaned in pain, and Ray scrambled to stand up.

Both Caleb and Jack made eye contact from across the clearing before rushing over. Geoff pulled his leg out from under Ryan and gingerly poked at his knee, while the Breeder simply lay there with his eyes squeezed shut. Caleb helped him sit up as Jack tried to coax Geoff to let him look at his knee.

“Just move your damn hands,” he hissed. “Caleb, can you look Ryan over?”

“Already on it,” he replied absentmindedly. His hands gently dragged through Ryan’s hair as he felt for any bumps or swelling; there was only one, on the right side of the back of his head. It was small, but Caleb didn’t want to take any chances.

Attempting to recall the medical stuff his mother had insisted he learned before he left for his journey, he held up three fingers in front of Ryan’s face. “I need you to open your eyes for a moment, okay?” he asked. Ryan slowly did as told, cringing a little bit. “How many fingers am I holding up?”

“Uh… Three, I think?”

“Are you dizzy, nauseous, confused…?” Caleb paused. “…Well, aside from the stuff we were discussing last night, that is.”

A short, breathy laugh pulled out of Ryan. “No, none of those things.”

“You know your name and where you’re from?”

“Ryan Haywood; Canalave City.”

Caleb paused; he looked at Jack with a raised eyebrow. “Is that right?”

“Yes.”

The brunette turned back to Ryan. “Okay, great. I don’t think you have a concussion, then. Do you want an ice pack?”

Ryan reached up and started to rub the bump. “Nah, it’s fine. It’ll go away eventually.”

“You sure?”

“Positive.”

There was a beat of silence between the two; Caleb watched as Geoff huffed and turned to glare at Ray.

“For fuck’s sake, kid, you have _got_ to be more-”

The snapping was cut off suddenly, and the oldest’s eyes shut as he let out a regretful sigh. When Caleb looked up at Ray, he saw a deeply guilty expression paired with anxiety and fear. His bottom lip was between his teeth tightly, and his fingers clutched the hem of his shirt like a life line. Looking back at Geoff, he saw almost the same amount of guilt written on his face.

“…Please, just be a little more careful, alright, Ray?” Geoff’s voice was ten times calmer and softer than it had been mere seconds ago.

Caleb frowned at the interaction and was about to question it, but Ryan sighed and looked at him with a smile before he could say a word.

“You know,” he mused, “you really would make a good nurse.”

His heart swelled at the sentence, and he couldn’t resist the large grin that formed on his face. “You really think so?”

“Absolutely. You’re practically perfect for it.”

Caleb beamed at him for a beat, and then he tipped his head down and away.

“…Thank you.”

 

* * *

 

 

He spent the rest of his time with the Achievement Hunters talking to Jack about the school that he went to, and what kind of training he’d gotten. They talked for ages over things as such, enough to the point that some of the others (read: Geoff and Michael) were slightly annoyed with all the doctor talk by the time they left the clearing and made it back to the path.

As soon as they were there, Caleb fell silent. The smile on his face dissolved for a moment before he turned to Jack and forced it back on.

“Well… I guess I’ll be seeing you guys around,” he said.

Gavin nodded. “Yeah. I’m glad you got your Torchic back!”

“Me, too! Thanks again for keeping it safe!”

Geoff crossed his arms, smiling at the brunette. “Good luck if you end up challenging Dan,” he offered. “He’ll probably be pretty tough, especially since you only have two Pokemon.”

A sheepish smile split onto Caleb’s face, and he nervously rubbed the back of his neck. “Ah… I’m actually not going to challenge him,” he admitted. “I’m not going to be challenging any gym at all.”

There was a pause.

“…What?” Michael questioned.

“I’m not going to challenge the Beacon League,” Caleb explained. “I’m not going to be a Trainer anymore. It’s never been right for me. It just took me until now to figure it out.”

“Oh… So, what are you going to do instead?” Gavin inquired.

“Well… I think I’m going to go to Salubrity Town,” he informed, looking to Jack with a smile. “Check out the doctor schools there, maybe. And if I don’t like the ones there, I’ll look around for one that I _do_ like.”

A grin began to form on Jack’s face. “…You’re looking into being a doctor?” he marveled.

“Uh… Not exactly. A nurse,” he corrected. “But it’s close enough, right?”

“Yeah, of course! What made you decide to change what you wanted to do?”

Caleb made eye contact with Ryan. “…I got some pretty great advice from someone who’s had the same problem as I have,” he stated. “I took it to heart, and now I’m going to do what I want to. I didn’t even _know_ I wanted to do this until I helped you out yesterday, though. So thanks for letting me do that!”

“You are so welcome! I’m so glad I helped you figure that out!” Jack rejoiced.

Caleb let out a small laugh, and then the next thing he knew, he was wrapped tightly in a pair of thick arms. The laugh increased in volume, and in breathlessness. He felt himself being lifted slightly into the air before he was gently dropped and released from the pressure.

Jack’s hands landed roughly on his shoulders. “Good luck, then!” he exclaimed. “The studying’s going to suck, but it’ll be worth it once you get out there and start practicing! You’re going to have a shit ton of fun!”

“I don’t doubt you,” Caleb responded. He pulled himself out of the Pokemon Doctor’s grip and started to walk backwards down the path. “Thanks for everything, guys! Good luck with your gym matches, and I hope you find your spark again, Ryan!”

The others paused out of confusion, but Ryan simply grinned and waved to him.

“Thanks! Glad you could make your decision! Hopefully, we can meet up again someday!” he yelled.

“I sure hope so! Bye, guys!”

With that, Caleb turned around and continued down the path. The rest of the group turned to look at Ryan with curious eyes, but he just shrugged and started to walk in the opposite direction.

“Eh, it’s a thing.”

Gavin raised an eyebrow at him. “What, you and Caleb? Mew, I didn’t know you were gay!”

“What? No, I’m not.”

“Sure sounded like that to me!”

“How?”

“You said that you were a bloody thing!”

“Alright, first of all, I never said it was a _bloody_ thing. Second…”

The bickering lead the group on, giving the air a light tone to it as they traveled on and as the journey continued.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the read, and I hope you've enjoyed it so far!
> 
> And with this, marks the beginning of the Heartbreak Hiatus (as I am dubbing it.). Thank you all so, so much for sticking with this for this long, and so much more if you choose to stay and wait for the next chapter. I promise that it will be here before you know it!
> 
> In the meantime, I will be working on this again for NANOWRIMO, so if you want updates during November, we can be buddies! My username on there is Curfy97. And after and even during that, I'll be updating my Twitter regularly to let you guys know what's going on!
> 
> Ryan's song this chapter: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=of03sHr0O5I
> 
> [Comfort Caleb Button]  
> [Comfort Ray Button]  
> [Comfort Gavin Button]  
> [Comfort Ryan Button]  
> [Comfort Michael Button]  
> [Comfort Geoff Button]
> 
> Thank you so much, again, and I'll be seeing you guys soon!! <3


	34. No Abusing! Gavin Makes It Clear!!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After a nasty argument with Michael, Gavin takes a moment to reflect on his time with Umbreon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is not a return from the hiatus. The Heartbreak Hiatus still has some time before it will come to a close.
> 
> But... This is a break.
> 
> This is my tribute to Monty today (and a celebration of 1 year since posting the first chapter).
> 
> I'm getting up. I'm getting going. I'll meet you there, Monty, and I promise that I will have something great to show you when I arrive.
> 
> \---
> 
> Beacon Region Map: http://sweetiecurfyart.tumblr.com/post/111232399174/here-it-is-a-map-of-the-beacon-region-used
> 
> Art will be posted: sweetiecurfyart.tumblr.com  
> Follow me on Twitter under @Sweetie_Curfy  
> Support me on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/sweetiecurfy?ty=h

“Stantler, use Stomp!”

“U- Uh… Budew, dodge it…!”

The small Grass Type leapt out of the way just as Stantler’s hooves smashed into the ground next to it; it squealed, then started to run off.

“B- Budew, no, wait! Don’t run away!” Ray yelped.

“Now’s our chance, Stantler! Take Down!”

The Normal Type began to chase after Budew, which screeched again and started to sprint faster.

On the sidelines, Ryan crossed his arms. “Geoff, do you really think this is fair? Chasing after a terrified, much weaker Pokemon?”

“Of course it’s fair! They agreed to this battle, didn’t they?” Geoff hollered.

With a sigh, the Breeder made his way over to the Gent and leaned in close. “You know,” he lowly started, “A lot of times, in battle, the Pokemon’s emotions reflect off of the Trainer’s.”

Geoff narrowed his eyes towards the field, but huffed regardless and swiped his hand in front of him. “Stantler, that’s enough.”

The Big Horn Pokemon slowed to a stop just as Budew tripped and skidded into the ground. Ray bit his lip at the sight, but made no other movement towards his Pokemon.

“A- Are you alright, Budew?”

It slowly got back to its feet and shook the dust off of it before nodding at Ray. He relaxed just a little bit. Geoff sighed and held up a finger, motioning for the youngest to come over.

“Ray, come here.”

Any relaxation that had come seconds ago was gone; he chewed nervously on his lip and grabbed the hem of his shirt before doing as told. Once he was in front of the oldest, Geoff crossed his arms and pushed his lips to the side.

“Look,” he said, “I understand that you’ve got this anxiety disorder and everything, but I know a lot of people with the same thing who are twice as confident as you’ve been lately.”

Ray hesitated. “I- I’m sorry,” he muttered.

“Don’t be sorry. Arceus, I think that’s one of the things that’s so bad about your disorder! Stop fucking apologizing so much.”

Ryan rolled his eyes. “Geoff, come on.”

“No! If no one else is gonna teach him how to be confident, then I will!” he snapped. “C’mere, Ray.”

He wrapped an arm around Ray’s shoulders and started to lead him away from Ryan; the younger Gent sighed and shook his head.

“You’re never going to learn, are you?” he breathed.

Once Geoff had lead them to a reasonable distance away, he pointed his finger at the younger and raised his eyebrows. “You know, being scared of fucking everything isn’t a great way to live your life,” he began. “It’s a pretty shitty way to do it, if you ask me.”

_I wouldn’t be doing it if I thought I had a choice_ , Ray thought.

“And I know you struggle with shit like that, so if you’re willing to let me, I want to help you gain some confidence.”

Ray raised an eyebrow. “…Why?”

“Because I’m your friend, and that’s what friends do,” Geoff replied. “We help each other the best we can.”

_What if I don’t want help?_

“So you’d better get out your notebook, because I’m going to teach you a lesson you’ll never forget!”

“You gotta dress big, dress bold, dress large…,” Ryan sang softly in the distance.

“H-How?” Ray asked.

Geoff pulled his arm away. “What do you mean, ‘how’? How do I teach you everything else?”

“You gotta look forceful and resourceful and in charge…”

Ray furrowed his brow, looking at the ground. “Um… I’m not sure…”

The oldest let out a sigh. “By example.”

“You wanna dress mean, not clean, aggressive…”

“E- Example…?”

“Well… Okay, maybe not example,” Geoff said. “More lecturing, this time, I guess. Which leads me to step one: if you don’t feel confidence, just fake it til you make it.”

“Gotta dress massive; not passive…”

Ray bit his lip and looked at the ground. “I- I’m not sure I know how to do that…”

Rolling his eyes, Geoff put his hands on his hips. “Come on, it’s not _that_ hard. You just gotta pretend that you’re more confident than you actually are.”

“I don’t know how to do that, though!”

“Gotta dress fierce, and raw, and hairy…”

Geoff pressed his lips together. “Just pretend that you’re someone else. It’s acting, dude. You can’t explain it. You just do it,” he explained.

“More than just prominent, predominantly scary…”

Ray grimaced a bit. “I’m a pretty shit actor…”

“Oh, bullshit! You acted like there was nothing wrong with you for the first month that any of us knew you, and when you were having those recurring nightmares!” he exclaimed. “You know how to act. You just gotta learn how to act like you’re confident now.”

“It’s not the real you, I guarantee you, that’ll see you through this gig…”

Ray curled in a bit on himself. “O- Okay… How do I do that, then?”

A smirk pressed on Geoff’s face. “First step, don’t do that.”

“Don’t do what?” the younger asked.

“Don’t make yourself small! Here…”

Geoff reached forward and pushed Ray’s shoulder’s back before reaching behind him and pressing between his shoulder blades until he was stood up straight. He then took hold under Ray’s chin and pulled it up a bit.

“…Like that!” he stated. “If you’ve got posture, you’ll stick out more!”

Immediately, everything Geoff had done deflated as Ray went back to his original position. “But I don’t want to stick out…,” he whispered.

“It’s the rig, you dig? Dress big…!”

“Well, you’re going to have to deal with that if you’re going to be confident, so get used to it,” Geoff huffed. “Stand like I showed you again.”

Slowly, Ray replaced his posture to what it had been seconds ago. He swallowed thickly as Geoff came closer to him.

“Alright, kid, next step: don’t look so scared! You look like you’re staring a Raikou right in the face!” Geoff ordered.

Ray frowned. “What the hell’s a Raikou?”

The older mirrored his expression. “You don’t know what a Raikou is?”

“It isn’t enough to be a god…”

The younger shook his head. “No, not at all.”

Humming, Geoff put a finger on his chin. “I guess Johto folklore doesn’t really carry over to Beacon… Anyway, you just look terrified. Imagine you’re looking at a Murkrow that just stole some of your shit.”

“You’ve gotta convey it with a deity’s façade…”

Struggling, Ray put a weak glare on his face. His eyebrows were hesitantly furrowed while his lips pulled apart to timidly bear his teeth. Geoff stared at it for a beat before huffing and dropping his head.

“…We’ll work on that.”

“A god should look godlike with a bod like- well, like mine…”

Biting his tongue, Geoff turned to glare at the Breeder. “Ryan.”

“And so that’s who you’ll be…”

“Ryan?”

“You’ll pretend to be me…!”

“ _Ryan!_ ”

The younger Gent snapped out of his zone with a flinch and looked at the older. “What?”

“Could you shut the fuck up? I’m trying to help Ray, and you’re being really fucking distracting!”

Ray and Ryan made eye contact, and then Ray’s posture deflated once more. Ryan hesitated and looked at Geoff.

“Maybe you should work on this later,” he suggested. “I think it’s almost time to eat, anyways.”

The oldest looked over to where the others were setting up, and he let out a sigh.

“…Fine. Let’s go. But Ray, we are _definitely_ going to continue this later!”

He turned and began to walk away; Ray looked at Ryan with a small smile.

“Thank you,” he muttered.

Ryan nodded at him. “No problem. I’ll try to talk him out of continuing, too, if you want,” he offered.

Ray’s smile grew. “Could you?”

“Absolutely.”

“Thank you so much!”

 

* * *

 

 

Thankfully, however, by the time the Achievement Hunters had eaten and gotten back on Route 15, Geoff had forgotten entirely about his lessons to Ray about his confidence. Instead, he became focused on following the right directions- which quickly became a problem when they came to a three-way fork in the road.

Michael and Growlithe were the first to notice it, and they both stopped dead in their tracks, causing the others to look up with them. A sign hung at the edge of each direction, but only one had legible writing. Gavin rushed over to it and read it out loud for them all to hear.

“ _Cobble Village_ ,” he read. “Uh… That’s not where we’re going, is it?”

“Not at all,” Geoff replied. “We’re going through Cultivate Town to get to Seedling. If we went to Cobble, we’d be far as dicks from where we’re trying to get to.”

The Photographer looked at the other two paths. “Well, which way do we go? Those other two signs are too bloody shite to read!”

There was a beat of silence; Jack turned to Ray and pointed at his bag.

“You’ve got a map, don’t you?” he asked. “Could I look at it?”

Ray immediately began to pull off his bag. “Yeah, of course!”

After digging through his red bag for a moment, Ray eventually pulled out the folded paper and handed it to Jack. He opened it and scanned it for a couple of minutes, eyes often darting up to look at the two unknown paths.

Jack handed back the map and crossed his arms; the rest of the Achievement Hunters stared at him until he finally spoke.

“That map doesn’t have these paths on it.”

Everyone collapsed to the ground with a groan. Michael was the first to get up, and when he leapt to his feet, he glared at the ginger.

“Then what the fuck was the point in looking at it?!” he yelled. “Now what the fuck do we do? Mew dammit…!”

“I think we should just choose one and go for it,” Jack suggested. “If it’s the wrong one, we’ll find a way to Cultivate eventually.”

Ray bit his lip. “Are you sure that’s a good idea…?”

“What could go wrong?” the Pokemon Doctor replied. “Come on, let’s go down… this one!”

He started to head down the middle path; the others were a bit unsure of the plan, but no one really had any better ideas, so they followed wordlessly.

 

* * *

 

 

It was a couple of hours later before Jack realized that he was wrong.

They’d been walking in silence since they’d come to the three-way in the path. The only thing that had really changed was that Growlithe was on Michael’s head, and that the Ranger had moved up to walk next to Jack.

After a while, another fork came up in the road, and this time, both of the signs had legible writing on them.

“ _Cobble Village_ , again…,” Jack read.

“And… _Placid Town_?” Michael finished. He whirled around to look at Jack. “So we’re not even fucking close to Cultivate Town anymore!”

The ginger scratched the back of his neck. “Well, shit… Sorry, I was going off of gut instincts.”

“You’d better be fucking sorry!” the younger snapped. “You just put us at least four hours off from getting to Cultivate Town! And that’s if we were to leave this very Mew damn second!”

As Growlithe whimpered and leapt off of its partner, Jack raised an eyebrow. “I said I was sorry. Arceus, Michael, calm down.”

“Why should I listen to you?! You got us lost!”

“Mi-cool, relax,” Gavin ordered. “It was an honest mistake.”

“Honest mistake my ass! It was a wild fucking guess!”

“Yeah? And that makes it even easier to forgive! Just let it go already,” the Photographer pressed.

Jack swallowed thickly. “I didn’t mean to get us lost, really,” he repeated, a bit more timid than before. “We’re not even lost. We know where we are.”

“That doesn’t fucking matter! Our schedule’s all fucked up now!”

“What schedule?” Ryan asked. “We’re just going along as we want.”

“No, we go as fast as we can to get to the next gym!” he yelled. “That’s how it’s been since the day I met you guys! Going non fucking stop until we get to the next town, then staying for a couple of days, and then getting to the next gym as soon as fucking possible! This is going to set us back a shit ton!”

He threw his hand into the air at the last statement; Jack only saw the motion out of the corner of his eye, and he took a step back and threw his hands over his face. His eyes squeezed shut, almost as if he were in pain.

There was a beat of silence as the group looked at him. Slowly, his eyes opened again, and he looked timidly and perplexed at Michael. The Ranger stared at him for a beat before bursting into laughter.

“Are you fucking kidding me? _That_ made you flinch? Fucking Arceus, that’s gotta be the most pathetic thing in the universe!”

Gavin glared at him, fists clenching until his knuckles turned white. “Mi-cool…,” he growled.

“Seriously, the fuck, man?” he laughed, despite the ashamed, yet still confused expression Jack was sporting. “I was just lifting my hand! Do we have to warn you before we move every time now? Arceus! So fucking stupid.”

“Mi-cool Jones…!”

“Mew damn, how weak can you be?”

_“How weak can a Pokemon be?” she laughed. “Apparantly, a lot weaker than I’d thought possible! Get the fuck out of my sight, you pathetic piece of shit.”_

“Mi-cool, shut the _bloody fuck up!_ ”

Michael’s head snapped in the Photographer’s direction, but there was no time to see anything before he was roughly tackled to the ground. Dust flew in the air as he struggled to get the advantage over whatever was wrestling with him, and it covered his glasses until he could hardly see anything. They struggled for another minute or so before the body on top of him was yanked away, and he pulled off his glasses to see Gavin being tightly restrained by Ryan.

“Gavin, what the fuck?” he yelped.

“Don’t you _ever_ bloody make fun of someone for flinching!” he screamed. “You’ve got no bloody idea what the hell they’ve been through in their lives! You have _no right_ to laugh at Jack for reacting like that! Don’t you ever do _anything_ like that again!”

Ryan dragged Gavin back a few more feet before turning and pushing him back. “What the fuck’s gotten into you?!” he snapped. “That’s not how you handle that damn situation!” He lightly shoved the Photographer back a few steps. “Go take a walk! Take some time to calm down before coming back. And when you do, I expect an apology to Michael, because that was _not_ acceptable!”

“You’re not my bloody mum! I damn well don’t have to listen to you!” Gavin yelled. Regardless, he turned and stormed into the woods, arms crossed and face red.

Ray bit his lip and watched as Geoff and Growlithe went to tend to the shell shocked Jack and Ryan looked over Michael for injuries. He glanced back at where Gavin had gone with a nervous breath.

_“And I know you struggle with shit like that, so if you’re willing to let me, I want to help you gain some confidence.”_

“U- Uh…” He pointed towards where Gavin had left. “I’m gonna go see if he’s okay,” Ray informed. “See if he wants to talk about it or something…”

Geoff scoffed. “You need a Water Type? Because it looks like that asshole’s gonna need some help cooling off.”

Rolling his eyes, Ray turned and jogged to catch up with the furious Photographer.

 

* * *

 

 

It took him a while, but after a few minutes, Ray found Gavin kicking loose stones and punching the air. He was grumbling furiously under his breath, and it was angry enough that Ray hid behind a tree and waited for the older’s fit to calm down.

Eventually, he kicked a rock, and it bounced off of a branch at the perfect angle to fling it back into his forehead. Yelling a curse, he stopped and pressed his hand into the area where it had hit. Once he was sure it wasn’t bleeding, he growled and plopped down against a tree, curling up into a ball and laying his forehead against his knees.

Ray took this as his chance. Timidly, he stepped out and inched his way towards Gavin.

“A- Are you okay…?” he asked quietly.

Gavin’s head snapped up, and Ray immediately felt guilt rushing into him when he saw that the older’s eyes were red and rimmed with tears. He gave the younger a weak glare before turning his head away and placing his cheek on his knee.

“Why? So you can yell at me for beating Mi-cool up?”

Ray shook his head, sitting under the tree next to Gavin’s. “No, not at all,” he replied. “I can understand why you went after him; he _was_ being one hell of a dick. I just want to make sure you’re okay.”

Gavin was silent. His arms tightened around his legs, and he coughed slightly. It almost sounded like a choked sob to Ray, and he bit his lip worriedly.

“…Vav?”

The Photographer leaned his head back against the tree, showing off the shimmering in his eyes for just a second before he shut them tightly.

“I just… I can’t _stand_ it when people are even borderline abusive to others,” he admitted, voice cracking. “Even though I know Mi-cool would never, ever purposefully hurt Jack, it just… It reminded me of someone who probably would. Someone that I never wanted to think about ever again.”

His fists balled up, and he glared at the ground in front of him. “And she just makes me so _mad_ , and the fact that Mi-cool was acting like her just makes it so much worse…!”

Ray frowned. “Who is it?” he asked. When Gavin looked at him, he flushed and hastily added, “I- I mean, if you don’t mind me asking, that is… You don’t have to explain it if you don’t want to, I guess.”

The older studied him for a moment before pulling his arms to wrap around his stomach. “X-Ray… You know Midnight, right?”

“Your Umbreon? Of course I do. Why?”

He hesitated, looking even further away from the dark haired. “…I’m not its original Trainer,” he admitted. “When it was an Eevee, it belonged to this bitch named Amaia. She was just not a good person in the slightest. Huge bitch. And she just… She just left her Eevee to die. Like it meant nothing to her. I felt really bad for it, so I took it in, and now it’s my top Pokemon, but it’s still got its little scars from her. Not physically, anymore, but mentally. So when someone flinches and gets made fun of because they reacted like that… I can’t _stand_ it.”

Ray hummed in understanding. “It makes sense,” he muttered. “But… Why did she leave it like that? Was it just not doing a good enough job, or did it have issues with controlling itself?”

Gavin sighed and rested his head against the tree again. “X-Ray, it’s a really long story…”

“O- Oh… Okay,” he replied. “Y- You don’t have to tell me. It’s fine.”

There was a beat of silence.

“Although…,” Gavin continued, “I doubt any of the others are going to want to see me anytime soon after what I did to Mi-cool.

“Amaia first showed up a few months after the Pokemon League got started up, and when Dan was still struggling to find a good balance between being too strong and letting the Trainers beat him too easily…”

 

* * *

 

 

_Today was a weird school day for Gavin._

_First of all, Hilda wasn’t even there. She usually tried her best to make it in, even when she was sick as hell, but apparently she’d caught something horrible and couldn’t even make it out of bed. So not having her around for her sarcastic statements was weird._

_Then, on the announcements, they’d claimed that it would be one lunch, and then served a completely different one when their lunch period rolled around. That had thrown him way off._

_They had a test in Math that somehow he, Dan, and Hilda had all forgotten about, and it was super hard. Gavin was, for the first time in his life, a little jealous of Hilda for missing it (but not at all of her illness.)._

_And then- the weirdest part of it all –when the bell rang at the end of their Chemistry class, Dan was packed up and out the door before Gavin had even gotten the chance to pick his textbook off of the floor. By the time he made it to his locker, Dan was already slamming his own shut and hurrying towards the door. He might have even left if it weren’t for the fact that Gavin called out for him._

_“Hey, B! What’s the hurry, man?” he hollered. “I thought we were gonna go see Miss Audra to ask about Miss Hilda?”_

_In all honesty, Gavin had been a little excited about the fact that Hilda was out for the day. As much as he hated her being sick, it meant that he and Dan would have a little time together. Ever since he’d been asked to run the gym, their times hanging out were few and far in between. Today, there had been no matches scheduled, so that meant Gavin and Dan could go see Miss Audra about Hilda, then go get ice cream and sit on the bridge leading into Route 16 like they always used to. Gavin knew it was needed today, because he was starting to get quite lonely without seeing his B very often._

_Dan turned around and gave him a small wave. “Sorry, B! I got a text from Pap that there’s a challenger who’s really insistent that I battle her today. I don’t want to keep her waiting!”_

_He then turned and sprinted out of the building, leaving Gavin at his locker with fallen shoulders and a disappointed stare._

_“But… What about the bridge?” he whispered._

_Out of the corner of his eye, he saw someone quite familiar walking up beside him. Not wanting to have to face him, Gavin turned and yanked his locker open. He began to shove his books inside as the person talked._

_“Everything alright, Gavin?”_

_“Everything’s_ fine _,” he snapped. “Just go home, Johnny. I gotta go talk to Miss Audra.”_

_“Oh. You giving Hilda her homework? How romantic! You gonna kiss her to give her an A next?” the younger laughed._

_Slamming his locker, Gavin whirled around and jabbed a finger at him. “I’m not in the mood. Go get your stuff and go home. I don’t want to deal with you right now.”_

_Johnny held up his hands in surrender. “Alright, alright! I’ll go! Arceus…”_

_He walked off, and Gavin turned and left the building soon after._

 

* * *

 

 

_“Monferno, Mach Punch!”_

_“Nosepass, Protect!”_

_Gavin stood in the door to the gym, watching as the Fire Type’s attack broke through the Nosepass’s green shield and hit it straight in the face. The Rock Type collapsed to the ground within a second._

_“Nosepass is unable to battle! Monferno wins! Therefore, the match goes to Dan!”_

_A smile formed on Dan’s face, and he offered his Pokemon a thumbs up. “Nice work, Monferno! You’ve been doing great recently!”_

_It cheered and did a flip, causing its Trainer to laugh. The challenger, on the other hand, scoffed at it and roughly returned her fainted Pokemon back into its PokeBall. She then jabbed a finger towards him._

__“When can I rechallenge you?” she snapped._ _

_The smile slipped off of Dan’s face, and instead was replaced with a thoughtful look. “Uh… Next Tuesday, I believe?”_

_Gavin almost felt his heart stop. Next Tuesday? That meant that there wasn’t a single day in the next five days where he could hang out with Dan! This was ridiculous!_

_“Fine! Then next Tuesday, I’m coming back for a rematch!” With that, she whirled around and stormed out of the gym. Gavin had to step back in order to avoid being hit by her long, black hair._

_“Man, what a bitch… Oh, hey, B! Didn’t realize you were here!”_

That doesn’t surprise me _, Gavin thought. Regardless, he forced a smile as he looked at his best friend._

_“Hi, B! You wanna go hang out?” he asked._

_Dan bit his lip, and Gavin immediately knew what was coming. “Ah, actually…”_

_“Do you have another match?”_

_“No… Pap wanted to talk to me about my battling and stuff. Maybe tomorrow?” he suggested._

_Gavin’s shoulders fell again. “Tomorrow’s that photography workshop that I really wanted to go to… I only signed up for one person.”_

_The dark haired frowned. “Oh… Sorry, B. Maybe some other time, yeah? I’m free almost all of next week, aside from my challenges against Ryouta and Amaia. We can do something then.”_

_He didn’t even bother to say goodbye before scurrying out of the doors. Gavin’s gaze slowly dropped to the orange dust beneath his feet._

_“…You said that last week,” he whispered._

_Gavin was practically dragging his feet as he walked back outside. He walked slowly down the street towards the Ozpin Gardens; not only could he talk to Rusty about everything and hopefully get some advice, but it would help him avoid Dan’s grandfather’s house. He was glad that he could manage to not have to see Dan, even if it was just for the afternoon._

_He felt his heart twisting at the thought of hiding from him when he’d just been so eager to be with him._

_“I cannot believe you three were so damn_ pathetic _today!”_

_Gavin stopped in his tracks at the exclamation. He looked towards the alley where it’d come from; that almost sounded like the girl that was just battling Dan…_

_“That was the worst you three have ever preformed in battle. Ever! What more do I have to do to get you to be stronger?!”_

_Biting his lip, he peered around the corner. Sure enough, the black haired, tan skinned girl was standing with her back to the entrance of the alleyway, hands on her hips and legs shoulder width apart. In front of her was the Nosepass from earlier, an Eevee, and a Marill._

_As she continued to yell at them, Gavin couldn’t help but notice the difference in reactions between Nosepass and Marill, and Eevee. While the first two were simply staring up at her, stone cold and just taking it as it came, Eevee was trembling and looking at her with terror in its eyes. It crouched slightly, as if it were trying to make itself as small as possible._

_Gavin didn’t understand why it was the only one to do that; if he had been in that situation, he would’ve been doing the same thing. Being yelled at was bloody terrifying. After another moment or so, however, he discovered why._

_“…Especially you!” she spat, pointing at Eevee. “You were the worst! You couldn’t even make it through one Pokemon! How pathetic is that?! I don’t even know why I caught you, you piece of shit!”_

_She kicked the Normal Type hard in the face, and it rolled back a few feet with a cry of pain._

_“Don’t you dare make any noises! You don’t deserve them!”_

_Stepping towards it, she put her foot on top of it and pressed down. Its mouth opened in a silent scream. Once she lifted her foot, it sat up a bit and began to gasp for air until she kicked it again._

_“Stop wasting my time and start being a better Pokemon,” she growled. With that, she put her Pokemon back in their PokeBalls and began to walk out of the alley. Gavin gasped and put his back against the wall._

_Thankfully, when she walked out, she turned in the opposite direction, missing him completely. He let out a sigh of relief before the real horror of what had just happened to that Eevee washed over him. His eyes squeezed shut, and he slid down to sit on the pavement._

__He wished that he had had the courage to have stood up for the poor Pokemon._ _

 

* * *

 

 

_By the time Tuesday rolled around, Gavin was pretty sure he was going to die._

_He, thankfully, hadn’t caught Hilda’s sickness, but she was being constantly pulled away between her new position at the Ozpin Gardens and her family’s business, plus Dan had gotten booked for the entire week with gym battles. He was going to be alone all week- again._

_He definitely didn’t want to go to the gym to watch him battle. But today was the day that that girl was going against him in a rematch, and since he hadn’t stood up for her Eevee earlier, he was going to go watch so he could at least support it._

_When he walked in after school, he saw Dan grin and wave at him._

_“Hey, B! You’re finally coming to watch another match! Mew, it’s been ages since you were last here for that!” he exclaimed._

_Gavin returned it with a nervous smile and a scratch to the back of his neck. “Eh… Yeah. I kind of wanted to see how you do in your rematch against that girl- the one with the Nosepass, if I remember right?”_

_He knew that he remembered right, but he didn’t want Dan to know that he’d seen her beating her Pokemon after the match. So he acted as if what he’d seen on Thursday was all that he’d seen of her._

_“Oh, Amaia!” Dan informed. “Yeah, that’s today. She should be here in a couple of minutes, actually. It should be a hell of a battle, if I can go off of what she was like last time!”_

_All that Gavin could think of was seeing that Eevee be kick and stood on; a weak laugh tumbled out of his lungs._

_“Heh… I’m sure it will be…”_

_He turned and began to climb into the bleachers without another word; as soon as he was sat in the middle, the doors flew open, and the girl that had been infamous in Gavin’s mind for the past five days stormed in._

_Dan smiled at her. “Ah, there you are! Are you ready for the battle?”_

_She nodded. “Absolutely. I won’t lose this time,” she growled._

__Smirking with a raised eyebrow, he turned and walked to the other side of the field. “If you say so, sure,” he replied. “Hey, Naji! Can you come ref a battle for us?”_ _

 

* * *

 

 

“Uh… You’re not going to describe the whole battle, are you…?” Ray interrupted. “I mean, if you are, it’s fine, but…”

Gavin shook his head. “Nah, I’ll just skip past that part. All that you really need to know is that Amaia beat the crap out of Dan, and she only lost Eevee. Which is pretty crucial to the next part of the story…”

 

* * *

 

 

_By the time Gavin got out of the gym, the sun was starting to set. The sky was a bright orange, and he just knew that it would be a wonderful sunset- one that he’d kill to get pictures for. He would have asked Dan if he’d wanted to hang out, but he figured the answer would be a “no,” plus he found that he always got much better pictures when Dan wasn’t around anyways. So, maybe this time it was for the better… At least, that’s what he told himself._

_As he hurried down the street towards the Ozpin Gardens, he smiled at the thought of convincing Rusty to let him go on the roof of the maintenance building again. Even though it was a bitch to get up and down, the pictures that came out were phenomenal. With the sky looking like this, he couldn’t even imagine how great the photos tonight would turn out._

_“I cannot believe that after all that, you were still just as pathetic as ever!”_

_Gavin stopped dead in his tracks at the voice. It belonged to Amaia, he was sure of it! But, why did she sound so angry? She’d gotten the badge and everything. Unless…_

_A small gasp ripped through his throat, and he sprinted to the alley to peer around the corner. Sure enough, the Eevee from before was cowering in fear in front of its Trainer. They were turned to the side this time, but a box still blocked Eevee’s escape. She glared down at it menacingly._

_“I trained you hard and everything! I can’t fucking take your shit anymore, Eevee. You’re not worth my time; you’re not worth anyone’s time!”_

_She threw a PokeBall to the ground below her, and as soon as it rolled to a stop, she lifted her foot and smashed it. Eevee flinched and let out a cry of distress. Looking closer, Gavin saw that one of the shards had slashed its ear. Amaia must have noticed as well, because she scoffed and began to giggle vilely._

_“How weak can a Pokemon be?” she laughed. “Apparently, a lot weaker than I’d thought possible! Get the fuck out of my sight, you pathetic piece of shit.”_

_She turned and began to march out of the alley, but Eevee tried to follow with a pleading cry. Glaring, she whipped around and kicked it hard. It flew back and ended up rolling to a stop in the shards of its PokeBall._

_“You stay here!” she snapped. “Don’t even think about leaving this alley until I’m long gone! Do you understand me? No one wants to see your pathetic face. Stay. Here.”_

_With that, Amaia turned and walked off, leaving her sobbing Pokemon to itself. As soon as Gavin was sure she was gone, he rushed into the alley and kneeled next to it._

_“Are you alright?” he asked it softly._

_It whimpered and curled in on itself, trying to back away from him. The Normal Type was covered in cuts and scrapes, and it was trembling. Gavin reached out to try and calm it down, but it stumbled back a couple more steps before curling into a ball next to the box that previously prevented its escape._

_Letting out his own distressed noise, Gavin got to his feet. He made sure to keep eye contact with it as he spoke._

_“I- I’ll be right back, alright?” he said. “Don’t go anywhere. I’ll be back in no time.”_

_He turned and sprinted out of the alleyway, towards Ozpin Gardens- the closest building to here that Gavin was sure would have what he needed. When the glass dome came into sight, he let out the biggest sigh of relief imaginable and burst inside._

_“Rusty!” he yelled. “Rusty, I’m in need of your assistance!”_

_Despite the pleading tone in his voice, the gray haired man came around the corner much calmer and slower than he wished. “What’s the problem, kid?” he asked. “Whaddya need?”_

_“I- I need the first aid kit,” he stammered, “And I need it quick!”_

_“Alright, kid, calm down! It’s right underneath the pond; it’ll take you two seconds to get it.”_

_Immediately, Gavin stiffened. “The… pond?”_

_Rusty sighed. “Arceus, are you still scared of that thing? It’s almost been a year and a half…” Regardless, he walked past Gavin and to the other side of the pond, opening the hatch and jumping below. The straw haired waited nervously until the white box landed on the ground near the hatch, and Rusty came out soon after. He strolled back and offered it out to him._

_“There ya go,” he said. “Just make sure I get it back by tomorrow. Bunch of preschoolers are coming, and you know how that always goes.”_

_Gavin nodded, turning and running towards the doors. “You can count on me, Rusty! Thank you!”_

_He didn’t hear whatever words came out of Rusty’s mouth after that, on account that he was already outside and hurrying back to the alley._

_It only took another minute or so to reach the Eevee again, and he thanked both Mew and Arceus that it was still there. Granted, it was still crying, but Gavin figured he could deal with that for now._

_He kneeled back down next to it. “I’m back,” he whispered._

_It looked up at him, shocked to see that he’d actually come back, but that shock was quickly dissolved as it began to cry again and curled back in on itself. Frowning, Gavin opened the kit and pulled out an antibacterial wipe. He offered a hand and a gentle smile._

_“C’mon, now. I just want to help you,” he said. “No need to cry.”_

_The Eevee still tried to make itself as small as possible, but Gavin kept his smile unwavering, and it eventually cautiously held out one of its paws. He took it as gently as he could and lead it out of the corner. Taking note of its slight limp, he looked over its body for any other major injuries._

_He put a finger under its chin and lifted its head to get a better look at the slash in its ear. “Mm, that one looks pretty bad, there,” he breathed. “Let’s start with that, then, yeah?”_

_When he began to wipe the wound down, it flinched and tried to pull away. Gavin cupped its head and held it in place._

_“No, no, no, don’t do that. I know it hurts, and I’m sorry, but it’s either this or it gets infected and really bad. I’ve got to do this; I’m sorry.”_

_As soon as he’d cleaned it, he took out a bit of gauze and wrapped it up. Once that was done, Gavin looked over its other cuts and bruises and took care of those, as well. He remembered its limp at the very end, and gently lifted its back paw to see a shard of the PokeBall embedded into it._

_“Bloody hell,” he muttered, more to himself than anything. It took him a couple of minutes, but he eventually pulled the shard out and quickly wrapped it up with gauze. He leaned back after that was completed and looked the Eevee over._

_There were practically more bandages showing on the Normal Type than there was fur; blood splotches covered the areas around those. It sat completely still, ears down and tail sat motionless. Any light in its eyes that Gavin had seen before was completely gone, and it wasn’t because of how late it was._

_With a sad sigh, he stood up and looked at the now dark sky. “Well… so much for those pictures,” he grumbled. Looking back down at the Eevee, he offered it another small smile. “Are you hungry at all? If you want, you can come with me, and I’ll get you something to eat. Are you up for that?”_

_It began to nod instinctively, but it suddenly paused, squeezed its eyes shut, and frantically shook its head. Gavin stopped and raised his hands._

_“Whoa, whoa! Alright, then!” he exclaimed. “Do you want to come with me at all? You can stay at my place. At least then you’ll have a roof over your head.”_

_The frantic head shakes repeated, and Gavin’s shoulders dropped._

_“…Are you sure?”_

_It nodded, this time much slower and more solemn than the last two answers. He frowned and looked to the pavement._

_“…Alright. If you’re sure,” he sighed. “But I’ll be back tomorrow, with something for you then. Alright?”_

_The Eevee nodded; a small smile formed on Gavin’s face before he turned and left the alley._

 

* * *

 

 

“So you just left it, then?” Ray asked. “Why didn’t you stay with it?”

“Hey, give me a break! I was still a kid! I made a hell of a lot of mistakes back then!” Gavin retorted. “That was the same time period when I had long hair. If that doesn’t say anything about my mistakes, I don’t know what does.”

Ray laughed. “Um… But, did you end up going back?”

The Photographer nodded. “Absolutely. I went back the next day with a can of food for it, and it ate it faster than anything I’d ever seen. And then when I saw it still there the next afternoon, I did it again. It became sort of a routine, for me to check if it was there before school, and to bring it something in the evening. And one day, it just… followed me home.”

 

* * *

 

 

_As Eevee scarfed down the food, Gavin gently rubbed its head. “…And in the middle of the test, she just leaned over and started talking to me!” he exclaimed. “Like we weren’t going to get in trouble or something! I didn’t say anything, mostly because I didn’t want to get in trouble too, but also because she’s so damn pretty, you know? I_ couldn’t _say a word to her! It’s like my voice just bloody disappears on me everything she’s around!”_

_Eevee let out a noise of understanding and crawled into his lap; he smiled and settled down._

_“But, anyway. She ended up getting in trouble. Thank Mew that Mr. Uggeri knows that I wouldn’t talk during a test.”_

_It hummed and looked up at him with a smile. Gavin smiled back and began to pet it again._

_Thinking back to that first night with Eevee, Gavin couldn’t help but notice all of the change that it had gone through. The most noticable was the lack of bandages- he’d taken those off of it about a week after it had all gone down. All that was left from the injuries was the scar on its ear, and he was pretty confident that that wasn’t going away any time soon. The light that had depleted in its eyes so long ago was now back, brighter than he’d ever seen, and he couldn’t be prouder of that._

_They sat like that for a long time, with Gavin studying Eevee and Eevee enjoying Gavin’s soft touches. It had been like this every night for the past couple of weeks, but it had taken a long time for it to trust him enough to let this happen. He was content with where they were now._

_It wasn’t until the sky was dark and the street lights were flickering on that Gavin gently lifted Eevee off of his lap and back to the pavement. It whimpered at him, but he frowned and stood up regardless._

_“I’m sorry, little guy. I’ve gotta get home,” he sighed. “Unless you’d want to come with me, of course. The offer’s still open, if you’d like.”_

_Eevee fell silent and fell back a bit; Gavin let out a breath and let his head hang._

_“…I thought not. I’ll see you tomorrow, then, yeah?”_

_With that, he turned and walked out of the alley. His heart dropped, as it did every night, but he let his mind wander a bit to get it off of the disappointment. He thought about the egg that he’d recently acquired instead, and wondered about which Pokemon would hatch from it. Maybe a Latios or Latias, since it had those red and blue triangles all over it? Although, that wouldn’t make sense; no one would give him such a rare egg like that. Even he knew that he was too clumsy for that. Perhaps a Delibird? Except, the egg had blue on it. Delibird was only red and white._

_Gavin sighed. This waiting thing just was not his thing._

_A pair of small footsteps behind him drew him out of his thoughts; Gavin perked up and turned around. A grin exploded onto his face, and he immediately stopped walking._

_“Are you coming with me…?” he slowly asked._

_Eevee caught up to him and yipped happily; he cheered and threw his fists into the air._

_“Bloody finally! Ah, Mew, I’m so happy! Come on, let’s get there pronto! I can give you a bath and a proper bed and you can finally see my brother, and maybe meet Dan and Hilda…!”_

 

* * *

 

 

Ray grinned. “That’s fucking adorable,” he laughed. “I’m glad that it all worked out!”

“Yeah, me too,” Gavin agreed. “Having Eevee staying at my place was great, too. I mean, it took a while for it to trust everyone and not go sprinting under the couch every time someone except me walked past, but eventually it started to really like everyone. Course, it still loved me the most. It didn’t let me catch it for a long while, though.”

Ray shrugged. “I mean… I can kind of understand. I don’t think I’d be willing to trust people too much after being abandoned, either.”

_Gavin nodded slowly. “And the trust thing got a lot worse with almost everyone else a few weeks later. Unfortunately, we hadn’t seen the last of Amaia…”_

 

* * *

 

 

_“Eevee, wait up!” Gavin yelled, sprinting down the street. “Rusty will wait for us to plant the Oran Berry Trees. You don’t need to rush!”_

_The Normal Type stopped in the light of a street lamp and yipped at him; he sighed with a smile and hurried to catch up with it._

_“Come on, now,” he laughed. “Just relax!”_

_They began to walk down the empty street at a much slower pace than before. Gavin put his hands behind his head and looked at the dark sky._

_“Maybe we can grab some pictures of the stars, too,” he hummed._

_They walked in silence for a while, just enjoying the evening and the quiet of the town. They were going to the Ozpin Gardens because Hilda and Rusty had asked them and Dan to help set up a new display before the next morning. They were both eager to help, and Dan even rescheduled a gym battle just to join them. This made Gavin even more excited, as there still weren’t many chances for the three to hang out anymore. It wasn’t an evening where they went to their favorite restaurant, then to the football game followed by a movie night, but it was much better than what he’d been getting with them lately- nothing._

_Eevee suddenly froze next to him, and it took Gavin a couple of steps to realize it. He turned and looked at it with a raised eyebrow._

_“Everything alright?”_

_“Hey!”_

_Eevee took off with a screech, back down the street and into an alley they’d passed only a couple of minutes ago. When Gavin turned to look at the girl who’d yelled at them, all that he got was a faceful of black hair and the sudden realization of who it was._

_Amaia._

_The shock kept him paralyzed for a moment; it was only after she’d ran into the same alley as Eevee did he spring into action and sprint after them._

_As he turned the corner, he saw that she’d already backed Eevee against the wall. She was screaming at it, and it was cringing and trying to find a way to get out._

_“You piece of shit! I thought I told you to stay there!” she screeched. “What didn’t you understand when I told you that no one wanted to see your pathetic little face? You fuck!”_

_Gavin’s fists clenched._

_“I came back here so I could take you back. Give you a second chance, since I’m nice like that. And after this, you’re going to get the punishment of a lifetime!”_

_He started to run forwards._

_“Starting now!” she snapped. Amaia lifted her foot and began to swing it at Eevee, but Gavin reached her just in time and shoved her back a few steps._

_“Leave it alone!” he yelled._

_She glared at him. “Who the fuck are you?!”_

_“I’m the one who’s been taking care of this Eevee since you abandoned it! And I’m warning you, you’d better leave it alone!”_

_Smirking, she crossed her arms. “Oh, yeah? And who’s gonna stop me from taking it back?”_

_Gavin swallowed thickly, standing up straight and puffing out his chest just a bit. “I am.”_

_Amaia laughed for almost a minute straight. He glared steadily at her the entire time. Her laughter eventually died down, and she shook her head slowly._

_“Well, then, a pathetic Trainer for a pathetic Pokemon. I can see why you took care of it for so long.”_

_His fists clenched again. “If anything, you’re the pathetic Trainer! No good Trainer would ever leave their Pokemon behind like this. They’d train it until they thought it was strong enough! They’d give it sufficient care and love it!”_

_She gritted her teeth. “Fuck off!” she yelled. “Get away from my Pokemon!”_

_A fist was suddenly flying in Gavin’s face, and he was knocked back against the wall; he almost slid to the ground, but he caught himself so he wouldn’t land on Eevee. He groaned, but pushed himself up regardless and stood defensively in front of the Normal Type._

_“It’s not yours,” he growled. “It never should have been yours! You don’t deserve a Pokemon as great as Eevee!”_

_“It’s my Pokemon!” the girl snapped. “I was the one who caught it! It belongs to me!”_

_“You mistreated it and left it to die in an alley!” Gavin shouted in return. “There’s no bloody way I’m gonna let you have it back!”_

_She snarled before lunging at him with a scream. Her nails dug into his arms, and he felt it breaking skin; he tried to force her hands away, but she simply moved them to punch him in the face again. He let out a yelp, and then she was scratching his arms again._

_“Charmeleon, Dragon Rage!”_

_“ORF, Sonic Boom!”_

_Hearing the voices, Gavin managed to shove away from Amaia just in time. The two attacks smashed against the ground between them, and she squealed as she backed up._

_Gavin let himself slide to the ground next to Eevee before scooping it up in his arms tightly. Hilda, Dan, and their two Pokemon were all quick to stand in front of them; the gym leader turned and looked at him worriedly._

_“Are you alright, B?”_

_He nodded shakily. “I- I’m good,” he replied. “Just take care of her, yeah? Don’t let her get to Eevee!”_

_Dan nodded and turned back around. “No bloody way will we ever let that happen!”_

_Hilda swiped her hand across her front so it ended up in front of Gavin. “Leave them alone!” she yelled. “They didn’t do anything to you! You’d better get the fuck out of here!”_

_Amaia clenched her fist in front of herself. “You think you can stop me from getting my own Pokemon back?! You’re all so stupid!”_

_Crossing his arms, Dan glared at her. “Amaia, you let Eevee go. It’s not yours anymore. Now, I’d suggest you leave before this fight gets any worse.”_

_She barked out a short, crude laugh. “You think I’m going to let this fuck take my Pokemon? You’re fucking crazy! Even more so for sticking up for him! Why are you even here? He’s not worth your time!”_

_At the same time that Gavin’s heart dropped to his stomach, Dan’s fists clenched tighter than Gavin had ever seen them. He punched the air in front of him and left his fist there._

_“You shut the bloody hell up! Gavin is one of my best friends, and he’s worth all the time in the world to me! And for that matter,_ no one _hurts my friends- ever! Charmeleon, Ember!”_

_The small flames burst from its mouth at an alarming speed; despite jumping back immediately, Amaia still managed to catch her shoes on the attack._

_Hilda’s reaction was similar to Dan’s; she threw out a hand, and Gavin could practically see the steam coming out of her ears._

_“Of course Gavin’s worth our time, you bitch! He’s one of the kindest assholes I’ve ever met! If you think I’m going to let you hurt him, you are so fucking wrong! ORF, Thundershock!”_

_The Magnemite released the electricity in an instant, and this time, Amaia had no way to avoid the attack. She cried out as she was zapped; as soon as it was over, she collapsed to the ground. With a glare, she looked up at Dan and Hilda, who were now towering over her._

_“Now get the hell out of here,” Dan growled._

_“Before we show you why, again,” Hilda added._

_As Amaia stood up, she scoffed. “Whatever. That stupid Eevee isn’t worth my time anyways.”_

_As soon as she was out of the alley, Gavin felt the Eevee start to shake in his arms. He quickly glanced down and saw tears rapidly forming in its eyes; he clutched it tighter and buried his face in its fur._

_“Don’t listen to her,” he whispered desperately. “You’re worth everything to me. I mean it. I won’t leave you like she did, I promise.”_

_He shut his eyes when it pressed itself closer to him. If he didn’t know any better, he would say that he could feel the warmth of its heart returning…_

_Wait…_

_It may not have been that, but he definitely felt its core temperature rising. It pressed its feet against his lap, and it managed to pull up at the same time until its ears were brushing through his hair, all while being hot to the touch. Regardless, Gavin held tight to it, but thoughts of worry rushed through his mind- was it sick and getting a temperature? Did Charmeleon somehow light it on fire? Why was it so warm all of a sudden?_

_Then, just as quickly as it had started, it stopped. Eevee was back to its original temperature, still pressing against Gavin. He sighed and pulled away to look it in the eye…_

_…only to find a pair of red eyes staring at him instead of Eevee’s._

_He jumped and almost yelped. “I- I- Where the hell is Eevee?!” he exclaimed. “What the hell happened?!”_

_“That is Eevee, you pleb!” Dan laughed. “It evolved! You’ve got an Umbreon now!”_

_Gavin looked back at the Pokemon in his lap, and it slowly dawned on him. A grin faded onto his face, and although he refused to admit it later, tears swelled up in his eyes._

_“You… You evolved!” he exclaimed. “I’m so proud of you!”_

_He hugged it again, and it nuzzled him back. Neither of them had ever felt safer than they did in that moment._

 

* * *

 

 

Ray smiled softly, and he looked at the ground. “At least your first experience with evolution wasn’t as horrible as mine,” he said.

Gavin laughed. “I wouldn’t call that better. Sure, it didn’t get permanently hurt, but it did have to face its abuser again.”

The younger flushed, and he bit his lip. “R- Right! Sorry, I don’t know what I was thinking; that must have been insanely worse than what Quilava had to deal with…!”

“It’s alright, X-Ray. Don’t worry about it!” Gavin stood up and offered a hand to him. “Come on, then. We’d better be heading back. I’m sure the others are starting to get worried as hell over us…” He paused. “…Well… Over you. I’m still not sure they’ll want to see me after that.”

Ray hesitantly took his hand, and as soon as he was stood up, he let it go as if it were the hand of a girl he had a terrified crush on. “Vav, you’re their friend, too. I’m sure they still like you and everything. Don’t worry about it.”

Laughing again, Gavin raised an eyebrow at him. “You’re one to talk about not worrying,” he snickered.

“Hey, come on!”

“I’m only teasing, X-Ray!”

“That was fucking low, dude!”

“Aww, are you gonna tattle on me to Geoff?”

“Fuck yeah, I am!”

“Oh, piss off!”

The two began to walk back through the woods and towards the path, where their friends would be waiting with open, worried arms for them to return. Once they made their reunion, the Achievement Hunters would be on their way, back on the path to Cultivate Town in no time as the journey continued.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you.
> 
> For supporting this fic as it's progressed, for leaving such sweet and kind comments, for giving me a reason to stay positive and motivated. Thank you to all of you.
> 
> Thank you for 3000 hits and 150 comments. I never thought that anyone would ever bat an eye at this fic, and yet, there are so many of you reading. So many of you liking it. This is my biggest accomplishment to date, and it's all thanks to you. Thank you.
> 
> I'm not sure when I'll be back for good- it will be quite a while, honestly. There's not been a lot of time to write lately, nor a lot of energy. But I promise you, I haven't given up. Even when I'm in class or something, it's always in the back of my mind. Just Don't Panic isn't over yet. I promise. I won't leave until I get it all written out.
> 
> Ryan's song in this chapter: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mnHp7fnx0jU
> 
> [Comfort Jack Button]  
> [Comfort Ray Button]  
> [Comfort Umbreon Button]  
> [Comfort Gavin Button]  
> [Comfort Michael Button] (Since Gavin beat him up)
> 
> I'll see you guys soon- sooner than you'll know. I promise.


	35. Cultivate Town! Ryan Desperately Tries Hard!!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finally in Cultivate Town, the Achievement Hunters do some exploring, while Ryan fights his way through some nasty insecurities.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ayy, special Spring Break 2017 update that will hopefully spark me into picking this back up full-time...? You know it!
> 
> Beacon Region Map: http://sweetiecurfyart.tumblr.com/post/111232399174/here-it-is-a-map-of-the-beacon-region-used
> 
> Art will be posted: sweetiecurfyart.tumblr.com  
> Follow me on Twitter under @alexandchara

The sun was beating down with a soft heat as the Achievement Hunters walked down what they hoped would be the last legs of Route 15. Gavin happily snapped shots of the group as they went, so far getting the best shots of Ryan, Michael, and Growlithe, but the worst from Geoff, whose face was buried in the map in front of him.

As Gavin took another shot, he sighed, stopped walking, and crossed his arms. “Geoffrey, come on,” he groaned. “I can’t get any good pictures of you if you don’t look away from the damn map!”

The oldest didn’t even bother to look up. “Oh, right, I’m sorry. I didn’t realize that the only thing we were doing right now was trying to help _you_ get some good pictures, that you in _no way_ probably already have,” he retorted.

“What else _are_ we doing? We’re just walking!”

“We are _not_ ‘just walking,’ you moron, we’re traveling!” Geoff shot back. He finally glanced up, but only long enough to swat at the Photographer with the map. “I’m trying to get us to Cultivate Town, you little fuck! It’s not as easy as you’d think!”

The younger smirked. “Oh, really? You wanna bet on that?”

Geoff glared and shoved the map into his hands. “Yeah, I fucking do! I’d like to see you try!”

Grinning, Gavin took the map before turning to face down the path. He simply held out a hand and pointed.

“Right there.”

Geoff raised an eyebrow before following the direction; sure enough, a small town was just a few minute’s walk away from where they stood now.

“…Oh.”

Laughing, Gavin pushed the map back to Geoff and started to run down the path. The rest of them grinned and followed, but Geoff simply stood there dumbfounded. He sighed and shook his head.

“You have _got_ to be kidding me.”

 

* * *

 

 

“…All that I’m saying, Gavin, is that it’ll be so fucking much easier on us to drop off our stuff before exploring this town,” Jack stated. “Do you really want to be carrying your bag all around town?”

Gavin shrugged. “I mean, if it’ll get us going faster, then yeah, I do!”

“Then _you_ can carry your bag as much as you fucking want,” Michael joined in. “We’re not forcing you to do jack shit! But the rest of us are going to the Pokemon Center to put our shit down.”

“It’ll only be a couple of minutes anyway,” Ray pointed out. “It won’t be _that_ long.”

Geoff nudged the now pouting Photographer on the shoulder. “Quit being such a baby. We’ll get to see the town.”

Gavin sighed. “Yeah… I guess.”

Ryan hurried to the front of the group just as they got close to the Pokemon Center. “Hurry up, then! If you’re so damn eager to start exploring Cultivate Town, why aren’t you-?”

The doors flew open, and Ryan suddenly found himself on the ground with a groaning weight on top of him. It scrambled up and pulled him into a sitting position.

“Holy shit, I’m so sorry!” it exclaimed. “I wasn’t paying attention. That was all on me!”

Looking up, Ryan was faced with a girl with shoulder length black hair and a pair of glasses. As she stood, her PokeBall patterned dress shifted above her black tights. Her elbow was skinned to the point of bleeding just below her black sweater, but she didn’t seem to notice it. Instead, she offered her hand and pulled him to his feet when he took it.

“It’s alright,” he finally replied. “It was only an accident.”

As the rest of the Achievement Hunters made their way over, Gavin raised an eyebrow. “What the hell’s got you in such a hurry?”

The girl looked at him. “There’s a contest here tomorrow at- oh, no! The deadline!” she gasped. “I have to go sign up! The deadline’s in twenty minutes!” She turned and started to sprint down the street. “Sorry for crashing into you! I promise I’ll make it up to you somehow!”

Jack took a step forward. “Hey, wait! What about your elbow?” he yelled.

There was no reply; by that point, the girl was gone. They stared at where she had disappeared to for a beat, and then Geoff sighed and walked into the Pokemon Center.

“Fuck it. Let’s just drop off our stuff and explore.”

The others nodded and quickly followed.

 

* * *

 

 

Jack looked at the others and raised an eyebrow. “So… Do we have any idea where we’re going?” he asked.

The rest of them looked at each other and shrugged.

“I dunno,” Michael eventually spoke. “I thought we were just gonna roam until we found something.”

“Was there anything specific you’d wanted to see?” Gavin asked.

“Well… That girl that we ran into earlier said something about a contest,” he replied. “I was thinking maybe we could go see the contest hall.”

Ryan hummed. “I think, if I remember correctly, it’s called Schnee Hall. I’m pretty sure it’s the highest regarded contest hall in all of Beacon.”

“Yep!” Gavin cheered. “My mum would always talk about how it was her favorite hall to preform in. She said it’s super nice, and the workers there were always kind as hell. Plus, the backstage is humongous, which I guess is a pretty big deal for contests and stuff.”

“You _guess_?” Ryan squeaked. “Backstage is where all the magic happens! Of _course_ it’s a big deal! It’s a _huge_ fucking deal!”

Gavin rolled his eyes. “Alright, Mew, I get it! You’re so bloody insane with that kind of stuff!”

“Well, yeah! It’s important shit, Gav!”

Geoff waved his hands to cut them off. “Alright, alright, alright!” he snapped. “We wanna go to fuckin’ Shit Hall or whatever it’s called.”

“Schnee Hall.”

“Did I fucking ask, Gavin?”

“…No.”

“Then shut the hell up and let me fucking talk.” Geoff looked away from him. “Is there anywhere else we wanna go?”

Ryan bit his lip. “Well… Caleb told me that there’s a lot of stuff for Breeders here,” he stated. “Could we maybe check that out?”

Each of the Achievement Hunters collectively nodded; Michael turned to face him.

“Did he say where any of that shit was?” he asked.

“Well… Um… No.”

The rest of the group groaned, but Jack shook his head regardless. “Well, why don’t we just walk around until we find something? Does that sound good to you guys?”

As Growlithe jumped onto Michael’s shoulder, Gavin rolled his eyes and started strolling in a random direction.

“In that case, let’s just go,” he said. “We’ll find something, won’t we?”

Ray quickly followed the Photographer, and the others followed soon after into the unfamiliar streets of Cultivate Town.

 

* * *

 

 

It seemed to Ray that no one, not even Ryan, surprisingly enough, was interested enough in what the town had to offer to be rushing through like they had in Entity City and Gubbin City. The youngest was mildly confused by this, especially with Ryan. Sure, he wasn’t exactly the type to wear all of his emotions on his sleeve, but Ray had expected him to be at least a _little_ excited.

_Maybe he’s having an anxiety attack?_ He thought to himself. _Or maybe he’s just anxious in general?_

_Maybe you should get excited for him_ , a voice in his head said. _Maybe he just doesn’t want to get excited if no one else is going to be_.

Ray pondered the thought for a minute before nodding to himself silently and grabbing Ryan’s wrist. The Gent glanced down and looked up at him with a raised eyebrow.

“You alright?” he asked.

The youngest bit his lip, but began to run down the street with Ryan in tow regardless. In reply, Ryan sputtered a bit before chuckling.

“What are you doing?” he laughed. “Where are you taking me?”

“I’m trying to make you hurry up!” Ray answered. “You… Um…” He swallowed thickly, realizing suddenly that it probably either didn’t matter why he was doing it, or that hearing the reasoning would just piss Ryan off. Instead, Ray simply fell quiet and slowed them down to a much easier pace.

“’I um’ what?” Ryan questioned.

Ray felt his face flush. “You, um… You… were… looking a little bored,” he eventually came up with. “I wanted to see if we could find the Breeder-y stuff any quicker.”

Ryan let out a short, breathy laugh and shook his head. “Okay, that’s fine. But what about the others? Were you planning on just leaving them behind?”

Pausing, Ray looked behind them to where the others were watching them with puzzled looks on their faces. “…They’ll catch up,” he replied.

The two turned a street corner, and both stopped walking to look at the sight in front of them.

It appeared that they had walked into Cutivate Town’s town square; in the vast area of sidewalk that covered a large square of the place, tents lined the edges. Many people were walking around to talk to those at the tents, and some of them appeared to be buying stuff. The tents also had a large variety of things at them. One had a bunch of Pokemon Food at it, another was teeming with Pokemon, and a third seemed to be selling Pokemon based crafts.

Ryan was staring at it all thoughtfully; this must have been what Caleb was talking about.

A hand rested on his shoulder, and he turned in time to watch Geoff’s eyebrows raise at the large spans of people.

“Holy dicks, what the hell is this?” he asked. “Some kind of nerd convention?”

“More of a Breeder convention, if you ask me,” Michael stated, walking up behind them with the others.

“What’s the difference?”

Ryan swatted at the oldest. “Oh, fuck off,” he groaned.

“Should we go look at it, then?” Ray asked as he pointed to the tents.

The Breeder hesitated a bit, but Gavin shoved him forwards, causing him to stumble. When he turned to glare at him, the younger simply shrugged.

“It’s your territory,” he pointed out.

Rolling his eyes, Ryan swiveled around to walk into the town square. Once in the middle, his gaze darted around to this booth and that, until he finally started walking towards the tent with the large group of Pokemon around it. As he came close, a woman behind the counter caught his eye and smiled at him.

“Hi, my name’s Amy, what can I help you with?” she cheerfully asked.

The corners of Ryan’s mouth turned up politely. “Hi, uh, I was just wondering what this tent is,” he said. “Why are there so many Pokemon here?”

As if on cue, a Shinx jumped onto her shoulder and nuzzled into her face. She pet it before answering, “Oh, these are the Pokemon that the employees here have. We like to leave them out, so they can interact with the customers, plus none of them really enjoy being kept in their PokeBalls. We're a company that helps people understand their Pokemon’s natures and such. Would you like an evaluation of one of your Pokemon?”

“Uh… That’s alright. I’m pretty sure I know my Pokemon well enough,” Ryan replied. “I’m a Pokemon Breeder, so this is kind of in my range. Thank you for the offer, though.”

Gavin ran up next to the older. “Can you evaluate one of mine?” he questioned, sporting a large grin. “I’d love to know what my Togepi’s nature is!”

Ryan looked at him. “I’ve already told you, haven’t I?”

“Yeah, but I’ve been told that it’s always a good idea to get different opinions from different people!” Gavin turned to Amy. “So, can you do it?”

She laughed. “Of course! I’m always willing to evaluate Pokemon! Which one would you like me to look at?”

Pulling out a PokeBall, Gavin let Togepi pop out and onto the table dividing them. It cried out happily and tried to run into Gavin’s arms, but he scooped it up and turned it towards Amy.

“This is my Togepi,” he explained. “Ryan says that it’s got a Calm one. What do you think?”

As she began to play around with Togepi, Ryan bit his lip, watching carefully. He didn’t want to admit it, but… He wasn’t so sure about his evaluation. Gavin had asked him to do it late one night when they were on Route 16, and he’d truthfully only given him a believable guess. He honestly had no idea what Togepi’s nature really was. The only reason why he’d even tried was because he didn’t want the others knowing what a terrible Breeder he was…

…No. This wasn’t the time for thoughts like that.

By the time Ryan had pulled his thoughts back in, Amy was dropping her hands to her sides and looking at him.

“Well, I’ll be honest, I have no idea how you got to the conclusion of Calm,” she said. “This Togepi has one of the strongest Jolly natures I’ve ever seen!”

Ryan felt his lungs deflating.

“Oh,” Gavin hummed. “That makes a lot more sense, actually. I’d never thought of Togepi as a calm Pokemon, to be honest with you. Thank you for evaluating it!”

The Spike Ball Pokemon turned and ran into its owner’s arms, and he picked it up and held it tightly. As Gavin stepped back, Geoff came forward and leaned against the table, pointing to the Pokemon on Amy’s shoulder.

“Are you from Sinnoh?” he asked.

With a laugh, she shook her head. “No. I’m from right here in Cultivate Town. I got my Shinx when I went on a trip with some of my friends a few years back.”

“Where did you catch it?”

“Um… Route 202, I believe. Why?”

Geoff’s shoulders fell a bit. “Oh. I caught my Luxio in the National Park in Johto back when it was a Shinx.”

Amy perked up. “Have you been to Johto?” she questioned.

A smile formed on the Trainer’s face. “Yeah! I traveled through there with my girlfriend a while ago!”

“Oh, no way! My cousin lives over there!”

Michael groaned, turning their attention to the group behind them.

“Are we really going to just stand around and talk about Johto all afternoon?” he sighed.

Glaring, Geoff flipped the Ranger off. “You guys can go on ahead for all I fuckin’ care,” he replied. “I’m gonna stay here for a while. Meet you assholes back at the Pokemon Center.”

As he turned back to Amy, the others glanced at each other and shrugged before walking off. They looked at Ryan for him to determine where to go, and he simply let his gaze wander until it landed on the booth with the Pokemon food. He held out a finger towards it.

“Let’s try there,” he suggested.

Jack grinned and began to hurry over. “Now food is _definitely_ something I can get behind.”

“Yeah, Jack, we know,” Gavin snickered.

“And what the hell is that supposed to mean?”

“Means you’re a fuckin’ fatass,” Michael laughed.

The Pokemon Doctor crossed his arms and raised his eyebrows with a smirk. “Yeah, well, we’ll see how hard you two are laughing when we get to Floe. From what I heard, it gets cold as fuck up there.”

Ray frowned, knitting his eyebrows together. “Uh… What does that have to do with anything?”

“Fat retains heat,” Ryan explained. “Jack’ll probably be the warmest of us all when we get up to those colder temperatures, while you and Gavin will probably be the coldest. You two are fucking twigs!”

“Yeah, you two will need to make sure to get some pretty fucking thick coats once we get in that area,” Jack pointed out.

Rolling his eyes, Gavin waved them off. “Yeah, yeah, whatever. We’ve got quite a ways to go before we get there, though. Plenty of time for you to remind us a billion times.”

“Oh, don’t worry,” Michael joined, “We will.”

Ray looked at the Ranger quizzically, to which he replied with a shrug.

“What? I don’t want you guys freezing your asses off just because of your body types. I’ll fucking force you to keep warm if I have to.”

Gavin giggled and wrapped his arms around Michael’s shoulders. “Aw, Mi-cool, look at you, caring for us a mental amount!”

Michael shoved him away with a snort. “Please, do you really think that’s a ‘mental’ amount? You must’ve had a pretty shitty childhood!”

“Mi-cool, why?!”

Ryan shook his head and began to walk towards the tent again. “Alright, alright. This isn’t the time for another argument.”

Michael barked out a laugh and said something in reply, but Gavin paused and missed it completely. Ryan had said it wasn’t time for another argument. _Specifically_ said another. Something about that didn’t sit right with the Photographer, and it wasn’t until they got to the tent with the Pokemon food did it hit him.

…Had he and Michael really been arguing that much?

He thought back to the past few weeks as Ryan started talking to the man at the table. Sure, they’d had that yelling match that day Ray caught Abra, and they’d attacked each other when Michael laughed at Jack for flinching, but that wasn’t _too_ often, was it? And yeah, they’d fight when they were tired, or when they hadn’t eaten anything in a while, or when they were lost and frustrated, and…

Oh. _We really have been fighting a lot,_ he thought sullenly. _If I’m not careful, I might lose my boi._

Gavin looked at the Ranger in question, who was also ignoring everything the man at the tent was saying. He had his attention focused on Growlithe as he pet it slowly and carefully. A wave of endearment rushed over the Photographer- not romantic or sexual, mind you, but platonic. Similar to how he’d sometimes felt about Dan or Hilda, he felt an intense sense of beauty in front of him. He might have caught it on film, but oh, no, he didn’t want to ruin the moment like that. Instead, he just stood and stared, trying to memorize every part of it so he could think back to it later.

As he stood there, eyes glued to Michael, the auburn haired turned and made eye contact with him. Brown and green eyes were locked for just a moment, and then the green tore themselves away. A smile, however, slipped onto Gavin’s lips, and Michael’s mirrored that with only a bit more confusion.

When the two finally focused back in the conversation, they quickly discovered that Ryan had hardly understood a word that the man had said. His eyebrows were deeply furrowed, his eyes squinted harshly at the paper laid on the table, and his mouth was open, but no words came out.

That is, until, he exclaimed, “But, how?! _How_ does a Pokemon’s nature determine what kind of food that they like?!”

The man sighed. “I already told you, it’s simple,” he replied, already sounding like he’d repeated it over and over. “The natures of a Pokemon are what arrange its taste buds, and when Pokemon have clashing natures, they like different things. For instance, a Pokemon who’s main nature is Bold, it has a preference for sour food and highly dislikes spicy food. A Pokemon who’s main nature is Careful prefers bitter food and tries to avoid dry food.”

Ryan’s mouth fell shut, and he simply glared at the paper. “Then what about when a Pokemon has two equal natures and they contradict?” he grumbled.

“Like a Jolly, Quiet Pokemon?”

“Yes.”

“Then its tastes are like those of a Docile nature or Serious nature- it doesn’t have any preferences or dislikes,” he explained.

The Breeder’s hands flew into the air. “How?! How does that work?!”

Rushing forward, Jack placed a hand on the older’s shoulder. “Why don’t we come back to this table later?” he suggested. “Maybe we can work on figuring it out until then.”

Ryan’s hands dropped to his sides, a defeated expression smoothing out his features. He opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. Instead, he turned and walked off, eyes glued to the ground. Ray and Growlithe hurried after him, but the others stayed and watched him go.

Jack looked at the man at the table. “Sorry about that,” he stated. “He’s not normally that easily frustrated.”

“It’s fine, don’t worry about it. I guess this can be a bit of a tricky topic,” the man laughed. “Tell him I’m sorry for frustrating him.”

“Will do.” With that, Jack turned and followed after the Breeder, the Pokemon, and the Trainer. Michael and Gavin were quick to do the same, but they kept sneaking glances at each other, with Gavin’s full of a soft glow and Michael’s full of thick confusion.

By the time they caught up to them, Ryan had his gaze set to an area on the opposite side of the square. It was fenced in, but people were coming in and out of it by means of a gate. Inside were a few Pokemon- a Skitty, a Blitzle, a Delibird, a Buneary, and a Lotad. Hanging above the fence was a sign that read _Pokemon Petting Zoo_.

Michael broke the silence that had fallen within the group. “Why’re we going there, Rye-bread?”

“I want to see if I can get any of the Pokemon there to like me,” he stated firmly. Then, much quieter and more to himself than anything, he added, “Maybe that’ll be the one skill that I actually _do_ have when it comes to Breeding…”

Ray frowned, being the only other one to hear it, but said nothing.

Soon, they were at the gate, and the oldest of the five quickly strode his way into the area. The rest of them stood on the sidelines and leaned against the fence to watch. Growlithe hopped on top and perched on the metal bars.

As Ryan crouched in front of the Skitty, Michael bumped his shoulder into Gavin’s. “Dude, why have you been staring at me so fucking much?” he asked quietly. “It’s getting kind of fucking creepy.”

Gavin felt his face heating up, so he quickly tore his gaze away and over to the Breeder. “Ah… It’s nothing,” he sighed, a smile creeping back onto his face. “Don’t worry about it.”

The Ranger rolled his eyes and followed Gavin’s line of sight just in time to see the Skitty swat at Ryan while he ripped his hand away. “A bit too late for that shit,” he replied. “Seriously, dude, what is it? Do I have some shit on it or something?”

“Nah, nothing like that. It’s just…”

The straw haired paused, causing Michael to look back at him. “…Just what? Speak, dumbass.”

Gavin shook his head. “I don’t know how to explain it. It’s nothing bad, though, honest. Like I said, don’t worry about it.”

Pressing his lips together, Michael turned back to Ryan as he got close to the Blitzle. “You’re _making_ me worry just by saying that,” he admitted. “D’you have a crush on me or something?”

The younger laughed at that, although Michael wasn’t sure if it was from what he said or the fact that Blitzle had just shocked Ryan. Regardless, the sound made a grin pull onto the Ranger’s lips, and his chest leap up a bit.

“No, of course not!” Gavin giggled. “I’m happy with my lovely bird, thank you very much. The only kind of love I’ve got for you is purely platonic.”

“Oh, thank fucking Arceus. I do _not_ want to make out with you.”

“Aw, hey! What’s wrong with this?”

Michael turned from Ryan’s approach of the Delibird to where Gavin was gesturing to himself. He snorted and raised an eyebrow.

“Please, do you really think my standards are _that_ low?” he sneered with a smirk. Gavin mocked appallation and put a hand over his chest.

“Why I never…! Mi-cool!”

The older simply laughed loudly, to the point where his eyes crinkled and his teeth bared. Gavin couldn’t help but snicker along, until the two were both simply standing and laughing. It took them a moment to calm down, and when they did, they just stared at each other for a moment.

The trance was broken when a yelp rang out, and they glanced over for just a beat to where Ryan was rubbing his head, and one of Delibird’s presents was laying on the ground nearby. When they looked back to each other, there was that same sense of platonic endearment from earlier that settled in both of their chests.

Gavin was the one to break the silence this time. “…We’ve been fighting a lot lately, Mi-cool.”

Michael paused. “…Yeah. Yeah, we have, haven’t we?”

Gavin’s eyes darted away, looking towards the Breeder while he began to pet the Buneary. “We should probably stop that,” he muttered. “I don’t like fighting with you, as much as it might bloody seem like that.”

“Hm… Yeah. I mean, I do love yelling at people and all, but it gets kind of old when it’s the same person over and over,” Michael pointed out. “Especially when they’re a dumbass who can’t come up with good insults.”

“Hey!”

The Ranger laughed again, and then laughed harder as he watched Buneary slam its ears into Ryan’s abdomen. He leaned forward and rested his head on the fence, shaking it slowly.

“Fucking hell, Ryan is just getting the shit kicked out of him,” he chuckled. Gavin let out a laugh and grinned down at Michael.

“Course they’re gonna do that, he’s bloody mental when it comes to Pokemon!” he exclaimed.

Raising an eyebrow, the older looked at him. “What makes you say that?”

A sudden shout of frustration broke through their conversation, and they turned to see Ryan storming away from the Lotad with a soaked uppper body. His fists were clenched tightly, and his glare was stone hard on the ground.

“Fuck this,” he growled. “I’m done. Let’s just go check out Schnee Hall and go back to the Pokemon Center.”

Jack frowned. “Are you sure? We could always skip Schnee Hall, if you wanted to. We can go see it another day.”

“No. You wanted to see it, so we’re going to see it.” As soon as he was outside of the fence, Ryan looked around. “Where is it?”

Michael pointed in the distance. “How about that huge ass fucking stadium over there?”

The others turned and saw what the Ranger was pointing at. Ray’s head tilted to the side a bit, and he let out a small “Oh.”

“Well… That wasn’t hard, I guess,” Jack said.

Ryan huffed and started to walk in that direction. “Let’s go, then.”

 

* * *

 

 

Surprisingly enough, Gavin was the first one to rush to the doors of Schnee Hall and open them. Ray quickly followed him, and for a moment, it was just the two of them in the building. The Trainer looked around the large lobby as they waited for the others. His eyes jumped from the expensive carpet to the plush chairs to the expansive windows to the high ceilings and large, crystalline chandeliers hanging from them. His mouth fell open a bit at those, letting out a soft breath in awe.

Gavin let out a sigh, pulling his vision away from the structure. “Bloody hell, this makes me miss my family,” he breathed. “My parents would bring Johnny and I here every couple of years to watch the contests and see how the new Coordinators were doing. It was one of their traditions before I was even born, and I guess just because they had kids didn’t mean they were going to stop that.”

Ray hummed quietly. “Has this place changed much over the years?”

“Eh… Not really. I mean, the carpet’s different- that can get pretty mingy after a while, you know –but other than that, it’s been the same for as long as I can remember.” He pointed up at one of the chandeliers. “I remember telling Johnny one year that I was going to hang him from that. We were pretty young, so he believed me pretty damn easily. Mum got pretty pissed at me for that.”

The doors behind them opened, and a loud whistle filled the air.

“Mew damn, this is nice!” Jack exclaimed.

“I can see why your mom liked it, Gav,” Michael added. “This looks fucking incredible!”

“You think this is nice?” Gavin laughed. “Wait til you see the actual arena! It’s even bloody better than this! C’mon, I’ll show you!”

He turned and began to bound up one of the large staircases that were on either side of the room, and Jack and Michael were quick to follow. Ray and Growlithe, however, stayed on the ground and looked to Ryan, who was dismally staring at the floor. Almost all of the light had disappeared from his eyes; Ray frowned and took a couple of steps closer to him.

“Ryan…?”

The Breeder snapped his gaze up to look at the youngest, and for a moment, livelihood was back in his eyes, but it diminished at a concerning rate. “…Yeah?” he responded.

Ray’s heart twisted at the older’s voice. It was so hopeless, and dreadful…

He opened his mouth to say something, but was cut off by a loud, disappointed groan from upstairs.

“You’ve gotta be bloody kidding me! Why the hell is it locked?! Mew damn!”

When Ray turned back to Ryan, he’d looked away, and Ray somehow knew that he wasn’t going to get his attention back enough to ask him if he was okay; Growlithe rubbed against the older’s shins, but he didn’t even react. With a sigh, he let his shoulders fall and patiently waited for the rest of the group to return. Maybe they could get Ryan out of this.

 

* * *

 

 

When they finally made it back to the Pokemon Center, they found Geoff sitting at one of the tables off to the side, a mug of something hot in front of him and a book just recently cracked open in his hands. He glanced up at them, grinned, and set down the novel after folding a corner down.

“’Sup, fuckers? Find anything good while you were out there?” he asked. With a smirk, he then added, “Or any _one_ , if you get what I mean?”

Jack’s stomach lurched at the suggestion, but he was too busy rolling his eyes to react. “Well, we found Schnee Hall,” he replied as they filed to the table. “That place is fucking insane, lemme fucking tell you.”

“I’m sure it is. Glad as dicks that I didn’t go.”

Ray glanced at the older Trainer from the opposite end of the table, but his eyes trailed away from him when he saw Ryan standing a few steps away, staring at the ground with that same expression on his face as before. Frowning, the youngest leaned forward a bit.

“Ryan?” he softly called. “You okay?”

The Breeder slowly looked up, catching that all eyes were now on him. Shame washed over his entire being, and without thinking about it, he sighed and looked away again.

“…I’m fine,” he finally muttered. “Uh… I think I’m going to go up to our room. Kinda wanna be alone for a while, if that’s alright.”

As he lifted his mug to his mouth, Geoff’s eyebrows rose. “Ohhh, I get it. Missing your girlfriend since you haven’t gotten any action lately? Don’t worry, buddy, I’m sure your hand will be a _great_ substitute. Trust me.”

Jack grimaced. “Oh, that’s fucking gross,” he groaned. “Can’t you make your sex jokes somewhere else?”

“What’s gross about masturbation? I do it all the time!”

“Alright, I did _not_ need to know that!”

While the other two Gents broke out into a bickering session, Ryan simply rolled his eyes and walked silently to their room. His thoughts ran slowly until he got there, and as soon as the door shut behind him and he’d kicked off his shoes, a sigh slid through his system.

“…Purpose, it’s that little flame that lights a fire under your ass,” he sang softly. “Purpose, it keeps you going strong like a car with a full tank of gas… Everyone has their purpose, so what’s mine?”

He sat on one of the two bunk beds and looked around at the floor. He knew that at this point in the song, the main character, Princeton, found something that he thought gave him purpose- a penny from the year he was born. Somewhere inside of Ryan, he begged every deity he could think of to send him something like that, but unfortunately…

He sighed. “…There’s no sign…”

Sliding to the floor, he pulled his knees to his chest. “I don’t know how I know, but there’s something wrong with my purpose… Don’t know where I can look to see what’s wrong with my purpose… Gotta find out, don’t wanna wait- got to make sure my life will be great…!”

Ryan’s knees straightened out, and he stared at his feet.

“Gotta find my purpose…” He paused. “…Unless it’s too late…”

His hands touched the carpet, and he rubbed it slowly. “Is it far…? Is it near…? Will it take a week, a month, a year?”

Shaking his head, he sighed again. “I know it’s not this, whatever this is… Can’t do it right, no, not this…”

Ryan bit his lip. “Could it be? Maybe I should… Something’s coming, but I don’t know if it’s good…!”

Whimpering, he pulled his knees back up and buried his face in them. “Does it exist? Where would it be?! This whole purpose thing is a mystery…! Need to find my purpose, need to find me…”

He wrapped his arms around his legs and lifted his head.

“No… Gotta find my purpose… So I can find me…”

 

* * *

 

 

Ray was honestly really, really concerned about Ryan.

That look on the Gent’s face- he wasn’t quite sure what it meant, since the last time he’d seen it, he was seven, but he _did_ know that it wasn’t something good. And with how long the last person had been wearing it, and how much effort it took to get her out of it… He _knew_ something was wrong with Ryan. He just really, really needed to figure out what.

He was about to get up to go check on him when a vaguely familiar voice called out to them, at which point his attention turned to the caller.

“Hey! You were the guys I ran into earlier today!” the girl exclaimed as she rushed over. “I meant to apologize for that, like formally, but I was in such a rush I didn’t even think about it! Where’s the one I knocked into? Is he okay?”

“Oh, Ryan? He’s fine; you didn’t hurt him,” Geoff informed.

Gavin snickered. “Well… _She_ might not’ve, but those Pokemon from earlier might be a different story…”

Raising an eyebrow, the oldest turned to look at the Photographer. “The what? What the fuck did I miss?”

Jack moved over a seat. “Would you like to join us? Also, how’s your elbow? Is it alright?”

She smiled and sat. “Sure, thank you! And it’s okay. It stopped bleeding pretty soon after I got to Schnee Hall, so it’s fine. Thank you, though!”

“My pleasure. My name is Jack, by the way.”

“Oh, right! I’m Gavin!”

“Michael, and this is Growlithe.”

“Geoff Ramsey, at your service.”

“Hi, I’m Ray!”

“And the one you ran into earlier is Ryan,” Jack explained. “He went to our room a few minutes ago.”

“Yeah, probably jacking off…”

There was a thud under the table; as Geoff winced and reached down to his shin, Jack let a proud smirk cross his lips.

The girl laughed and adjusted her glasses. “Nice to meet you all! I’m Steffie. I’m a Coordinator- but, I guess you probably figured that out already!”

Gavin shot up. “You’re a Coordinator?! No bloody way! So was my mum!”

“Oh, really?” Steffie responded, looking straight at him. “That’s really cool! How long did she go for?”

“Uh… I’m not really sure, actually,” he admitted. “She stopped a while ago. But she was the top in Beacon for a pretty long time!”

Steffie paused and took a long, hard look at the Photographer. “…Wait. You don’t mean…? You look like… Oh, my _Mew_.”

Gavin frowned, leaning back a bit. “U- Um?”

“Are you related to Carmen Leone?!”

The frown quickly formed into a smile, and he nodded. “Yup! That’d be my mum, yeah! Have you seen some of her stuff?”

Steffie nearly jumped out of her seat. “Oh my Mew! My dad used to show me videos of her contest performances all the time! She’s the reason why I _became_ a Coordinator!”

“Really?” the straw haired squeaked. “So, wait, you don’t know her from the movies she’s been in or anything like that?!”

“Well, of course I’ve seen those. I couldn’t miss the opportunity to see my favorite Coordinator doing what she does now. But honestly, I like her contest stuff a lot more!” She leaned back in her seat with an excited sigh. “I can’t _believe_ you’re her son! You even have the same hair as her, and skin!”

“And, according to his brother, her clumsiness,” Michael laughed. Jack and Ray both snorted, while Gavin snapped his head over to look at the Ranger.

“What? When did he say that?!”

“During the costume contest,” Michael replied.

Gavin glared at the table, crossing his arms stubbornly. “Bloody git…”

Steffie leaned against the table and propped her head on her hand. “So, do you do contests, too?” she asked. “Do you follow in your mom’s footsteps?”

“Nah. I took after my dad, really. I’m a Photographer,” he informed. “Oh! Wait a minute! Didn’t you say that that contest was tomorrow?!”

She smiled and nodded. “I sure did! Why?”

Leaping forwards, Gavin folded his hands and mustered up the biggest puppy dog eyes he could get. “Oh, please, please, please, for the love of Mew and since you know my mum, is there any way you could let us come?!” he begged. “I’ve been _dying_ to get pictures of an actual Pokemon Contest ever since I started this photography stuff, and I’d love to bring these guys along so I can show them Schnee Hall! Please, please, please?”

Laughing, Steffie leaned forward and put a hand over Gavin’s. “Hey, Gavin?”

“What?”

“It’s free to come, you know. Of course you’re welcome! I’d love it if you came and watched my performance!”

It seemed like the stars exploded in Gavin’s eyes. “Really?!”

“Really.”

Without warning, the Photographer jumped up from his chair with an enormous cry of joy, knocking the furniture over and causing Ray, and surprisingly enough, the others, to flinch at the volume. Ray covered his ears, but he couldn’t help but grin. Now that he knew how excited Gavin was for this, he couldn’t help but get hyped up, too, for the contest to finally come tomorrow evening and for the journey to continue.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, okay. I know it's been a really, really long time since I updated this, and I am so sorry for making you wait- buuut, the wait for weekly updates is still going to be a while. I need to get my motivation back, and it's slowly coming. But chapter 50's not close yet, so... Sorry, guys.
> 
> (Also, yeah, I know these jokes are going to be outdated. That won't stop me from posting, haha!)
> 
> Quick handful of life updates since the last chapter was posted:  
> -Figured out I was a lesbian, then figured out I was *technically* straight, and then wrestled with it for a while and now I think I'm bi? Not entirely sure about it yet, though  
> -Figured out that I'm a trans guy (so my new pronouns are he/him)  
> -Bought and accidentally killed another fish (she lasted longer than the first)  
> -Had another hard-fought battle with a couple of depressive spirals (but I'm coming out of it, so no need to worry!!)  
> -Changed my major to music performance and started my sophomore year of college  
> -Wrote an actual novel and am starting draft two soon
> 
> So, um, yeah. I promise you guys, I haven't forgotten about this- it's just been super busy around these parts, so it might be a while. I give you my sincerest apologies for not working harder on this and getting it to you guys sooner. But, it's Spring Break, so my plan is to spend the week working between this and my novel with little break. Thank you for 4000 hits, 170 kudos, and 180 comments!
> 
> Here's to you guys! I love you all!! 
> 
> Ryan's song this chapter (with modified lyrics): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5glOLjR7VK4

**Author's Note:**

> Posted in memory of Monty Oum.
> 
> "Keep moving forward."


End file.
